The Portrait Charm
by BeepKeeper
Summary: Harry learns early in first year that Dumbles intends to keep him with Dursleys every summer. He makes a friend of unique Hogwarts elf and they plan for ways to get around the prison on Privet Drive with magical portraits. Dumbles plans get tumbled by Harry's friends. Three fairly dark chapters planned with an HEA ending somehow...
1. Chapter 1

The Magical Portrait Charm

This Harry Potter story was written for fun. All rights belong to the wonderful lady (JK Rowling) who gave the world Harry Potter to read and enjoy.

Story Line: Harry learns early in first year that Headmaster Dumbledore is determined that the Boy-Who-lived will remain the Boy-Imprisoned-On-Privet Drive. He makes a knowledgeable friend with an uncommon elf and they plot how to make Harry's time in 'prison' bearable.

The elf's name is intentional – what's in a name anyway?

Chapter 1: First Year

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SCENE Finding a True Friend

It was the second week of school at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry for Harry Potter when he returned to the boy's dormitory in Gryffindor Tower and found a strange creature changing the sheets on the beds. He wasn't scared but merely surprized to find yet another creature in the world of magic. After all, he'd met a half-giant, goblins and real ghosts.

"Hello," Harry said carefully as the creature ignored him and kept on with his work.

"Go away wizard," the creature said. "Snot has work to complete."

"My name is Harry… Harry Potter," the boy said.

The elf paused in his work and replied, "Snot knows who you are, Mr Harrys Potter."

"I've never seen anyone like you…" Harry told the elf.

"You've never seen a house elf before?" asked the little creature as the dirty sheets vanished and new ones appeared with a snap of his fingers.

"Is that what you are?" asked Harry. "Of course, you know what you are… but what's a house elf?"

"Elves do all the work at Hogwarts. We clean mess, do laundry, cook food, and dust all furniture."

Harry shook his head and said, "Then I'm a house elf too!"

"You're Harry Potter! Why you say you a house elf?" the creature asked.

"My relatives think I'm their house elf. I've lived with them for ten years and I do all the cooking their food, washing their clothes and everything else."

The elf didn't say anything but seemed thoughtful as he continued his work.

"What is your name?" Harry asked.

Now, the elf stopped and then turned to face the boy before replying.

"My name is Janus Thickery Snot."

Harry stepped forward and offered his hand to shake.

"My name is Harry James Potter."

The 'elf' looked at the hand and then at the boy again before asking, "Aren't you going to make fun of my name? All wizards and witches make fun of 'Snot'."

Harry shook his head and explained, "Until I was five years old, I thought my name was 'Freak'. That's all my aunt, uncle, and cousin ever called me. When I started school, I learned that my name was Harry Potter."

"And it was just last month, I learned that my full name is Harry James Potter. And Hagrid told that my father's name was James, and my mother's name was Lily."

Snot, the elf snapped his fingers and a chair appeared for the wizard who sat and watched for another minute while the elf continued making the beds. He prompted Harry to talk and tell him the different parts of his story until Snot felt he had complete details on Harry James Potter.

Then the elf told his story, "Snot was named Janus Thickery Snot while I worked at St. Mungo's hospital taking care of witches and wizards. I was there for twenty years and Snot knows every potion and every treatment needed for every disease and every condition. But Healers decide Snot is only good for wiping snot from noses of witches and wizards lost in Janus Thickery ward. After five years wiping noses, Healers send Snot to Hogwarts."

"Headmaster Dumbledore tells head elf that my name is Janus Thickery Snot and that is the name I have."

Harry stood to help with the last bed, his bed.

"I think you've made your name something to be proud of," the wizard told the elf as he fluffed his pillow.

))**((

That night, Snot popped into Severus Snape's office as the potions professor graded summer homework and growled at different elves completing the task of filling the bins with appropriate potion ingredients for the next day. When the elf appeared, he snapped his fingers to freeze and silence the portraits, send all the other elves fleeing from the room, and completing all the sorting for the next day's assignments.

"Snot, what do you want?" the wizard asked with some impatience.

"Severus Snape is excellent potions professor and he seldom makes a mistake."

The potions professor stopped his work and turned his full attention to the elf.

"And you think I have made a mistake, now?"

The elf bowed and explained, "You have been lied to for the last ten years. Headmaster Dumbledore did place the son of Lily Evans in a secure home but it wasn't safe or loving."

"Explain!"

"Harry Potter was trapped under the thumb of his aunt, Petunia Dursley. This woman is Lily's sister."

"Petunia?" Snape asked faintly, remembering the beastly girl from his childhood.

Snot continued with his narrative saying, "The boy never knew he was a wizard or even his mother's name before a month ago. Apparently, the half-giant Rubeus Hagrid was the Hogwarts representative to introduce the boy to the wizarding world, to Diagon Alley, and to begin the boy's indoctrination to be in Gryffindor."

If the elf omitted all references to James Potter, it was because he sought help for the boy and didn't wish to cause the potions master any pain through hurtful memories.

"Hagrid? And Gryffindor?" asked the head of Slytherin house.

"The sorting hat wanted to place Harry Potter in Slytherin but the boy had only heard negative things about your house."

Leaping to conclusions, the wizard asked, "How is his physical condition?"

"Bad, but you will make potions and Snot will deal with that bad bones and weak muscles later in the school year," the elf informed the wizard.

"Why are you telling me?"

"He is his mother's son and can excel at potions if you encourage and train him."

Severus said nothing for a moment and Snot pushed ahead, "Build a bridge by offering the boy with the green eyes a picture of Lily Evans. He's never seen a picture of his mother."

The next evening in the privacy of his bed, Harry stared at the photo of his mother as a young woman, just before the beginning of her fifth year here at Hogwarts. She smiled with a natural twinkle in her eyes that touched the lonely boy's heart.

SCENE A False Friend and A Secret Guardian

Trouble found Harry one evening in the first week of October. He'd returned to his dorm room from the common room for more parchment – he was working with Neville Longbottom and Hermione Granger to complete their first long assignment in Charms to write a report on the charms to create water.

When he opened the door, he stopped with surprize – Ron Weasley, his supposed best friend – was rifling through Harry's trunk, sticking galleons in his pockets and eating Harry's chocolate frogs.

"Ron! Stop! What are you doing?" Harry said rushing over and pushing Ron out of the way.

"I'm just looking through your trunk…"

"And stealing my galleons! I saw you sticking some in your pocket!"

"You got lots of galleons! I need some so you can just hand 'em over."

"No! That's stealing!"

Ron sniffed dismissing Harry's protest just before he saw the photo of Lily Evans in the trunk.

"Who's this Potter? A muggle girl you left behind in muggle-land?"

"That's mine Ron, put it down."

"Why? You think you can get it back from me?" Ron asked as he stood up and held the photo above Harry's head.

Harry frowned and decided to try and talk Ron into handling over the photo but the red head sneered and ripped the photo in half.

"It's just a piece of muggle trash…" he began to say before Harry tackled him, throwing the larger boy to the floor of the room and pounded him with both fists, one after the other. The screams coming from Ron brought the prefects who broke up the fight, and then summoned Professor McGonagall.

Harry stared at Ron with a heated expression as they were marched from their dorm to the headmaster's office.

As the rotating stairs carried them up to the office, Harry began to feel the adrenalin leaving him but then he hoped that the headmaster and his head of house would understand why he tackled Ron.

Ron's excuse was that he was just looking at the muggle things Harry brought into the world of magic. "My Dad collects muggle stuff all the time."

"He was stealing my galleons! They're in his pockets! And he tore up the only picture I've ever had of my mum. He called it muggle trash and tore it in half."

McGonagall gave both of her firsties an evil look and the headmaster sighed before he shook his head.

"Now, Harry my boy, when muggleborns come into Magical Britain, there are always misunderstandings. Mr Weasley is your good friend."

Harry interrupted, "He's not a friend. He's a thief!"

"Harry!" Dumbledore admonished the young wizard. "Don't say things you don't truly mean. I believe that Mr. Weasley is the perfect wizard to be your friend. He will be your dorm mate for the next seven years and I already planned on you spend part of your summer with his family next year. They will offer you an escape from your 'loving' family before the next year starts in September."

"My relatives are not my family," replied Harry.

Dumbledore grinned and pinned Harry with a stare as he said, "I am perfectly aware and informed of everything that happens at Privet Drive. Your years there have been very important to shape you and make you strong in ways that only I can understand for now."

Dumbledore smiled at Ron and said, "The Weasley family is the only other home I will approve for you to visit."

"You approve where…?" Harry stammers, not believing the headmaster knows how badly treated he was at Privet Drive.

Now Dumbledore turned back to Harry and said, "I am your magical guardian and I make all decisions regarding your housing, education, and money until you're at seventeen."

Harry froze for a long moment before replying "Yes sir."

"Now, off to the dorms and I don't want to hear of any more problems between you and your best friend, Ron Weasley."

Ron snickered at Harry's frozen expression the entire way back to the dorm. At the dorm, McGonagall said, "Mr Potter that'll be detention with me for the next three nights for fighting."

"Yes, Professor," Harry replied and waited to hear that Ron got detention as well. But McGonagall sent the two boys back to their room without another word.

Back in the dorm room, Ron crowed that he was going to rule Gryffindor first year boys and girls while Harry went to bed without saying another word to anyone. During the night, all the galleons returned to Harry's trunk, the photo was repaired and placed in his book bag, and Harry's trunk had a notice-me-not spell placed on it that kept Ron from seeing it.

When he went to look for the stolen galleons the next morning, Ron Weasley found rat pellets from Scabbers mashed into the material in his pockets. His robes were wet and smelly; he noticed the other boys; Neville, Harry, Seamus, and Dean, fled the room because he stunk.

SCENE Halloween / 31 October

When Halloween came around, everyone in the first year Gryffindor tried to avoid Ron who usually smelled like rat droppings, and who continually refused to do his own homework. That day when the red head made disparaging remarks after Charms class because Hermione tried to help him, the other Gryffindor boys and girls remained silent – McGonagall seemed blind to everything Ron did and never took anyone's side against the bully. Before the feast, Harry noticed that Hermione had not come to the Great Hall and he called Snot for help.

Assured by the house elf that he would keep an eye on her, Harry still panicked when Professor Quirrell appeared and warned about a troll wandering around the castle. Everyone was hustled off to their dormitories and in a shadow under the staircase, Harry called Snot again.

"Mr Harry Potters go back to dorm. Miss Hermione Granger be there already, reading her favourite book."

"Thanks Snot," Harry said as he hurried to catch up with the rest of Gryffindor house.

The professors spread across the castle searching for the troll; the giant creature turned the corner on the third floor and stumbled upon Professor Quirinus Quirrell who was contemplating how to get passed a growling three-headed dog. The troll's club bashed into the back of Quirrell, throwing him into the room with the dog.

Quirrell never had time to scream as the different heads tore the professor to pieces. Then the troll, angry that his prey had been stolen from him, charged into the room and attacked the dog. By the time that Snape, McGonagall, and Dumbledore made it to the third floor, the troll and the dog were both mortally wounded.

"You can tell Hagrid that Fluffy is dead," Minerva told Albus.

"And over there is all that's left of Quirrell," Snape said pointing toward a pile of bloody rags that might have been robes just moments ago.

But Dumbledore ignored both professors as he cast many spells in the room, searching for any trace that might indicate if the Dark Lord had been present in the room this evening.

SCENE Taking Sides / 6 November

The next week, Ron Weasley found himself in some trouble – he got caught rifling through Neville's trunk in the dorm by Neville and a prefect. When the prefect searched Ron's belongings, he found books that belonged to Hermione Granger, Dean Thomas, and Lavender Brown. He also found pants that belonged to Seamus and shoes that belonged to Neville. The other students watched with growing disbelief as Ron was questioned by McGonagall but the woman didn't assign any detentions and merely told Ron to keep his hands off the belongings of other people.

"It won't do any good," Harry said sadly as Seamus, Neville and Lavender wrote letters to their parents and Harry's prediction proved true when nothing was ever said about the thefts again.

SCENE Invitation for Christmas

Harry was surprised but pleased when Neville quietly invited him to come home with him for Christmas. When Harry put his name on the list to go 'home' for the holidays, McGonagall took him for the second visit to Headmaster Dumbledore's office.

"Harry, my boy, it isn't safe for you to spend the holidays at the Longbottom home."

"Excuse me sir, how did you know…" Harry tried to ask.

"That's not important Harry. You will not spend the holiday with Mr Longbottom. That is final."

"Yes sir," Harry managed to reply without irritating McGonagall and getting detention again.

"Remember, I decide where you spend holidays and summers. If you can't fit in better with magical children who I think are best for you, I will leave you at Privet Drive the whole summer and send you home for each holiday rather than allowing you to remain at Hogwarts."

Ignoring or just not seeing the hate in the boy's eyes, Dumbledore smile congenially and waved him away.

"You'll have a perfectly good holiday with Ron Weasley here at Hogwarts."

SCENE Christmas 1991

In the days leading up to Christmas – Harry learned that the traditional wizards celebrated 'Yule' instead of Christmas and he asked Ron for information only to learn that the Weasley family didn't support the 'stupid purebloods'.

"You'll learn. Dumbledore wants us to help muggleborns by not telling 'em about old tradition stuff. Magic doesn't need those stupid ceremonies!"

Finally escaping Ron, Harry spoke briefly to Neville before Hermione interrupted and lectured them both on the evils of traditional magical culture. She assured them that Dumbledore knew best for all magical people.

"The whole world needs to listen to Albus Dumbledore!"

The two boys stared at the girl and refused to talk any more with her that evening. Harry truly regretted not being allowed to go home with Neville to learn about these traditions. The next day, he attempted to talk to Susan Bones and Ernie McMillian from Hufflepuff but Ron pushed his way into the middle of the conversation and ran the 'puffs off.

Wandering around the castle on Saturday afternoon to get away from Ron Weasley who only wanted to play chess or talk about quidditch, Harry slipped into the library. When he looked up Wizarding Traditions, he found that most of the books had been withdrawn from circulation and Madam Pence only growled when questioned about it.

Then, on the seventh floor, attempting to hide from Ron who seemed to have an uncanny ability to find Harry anywhere in the castle, the boy was walking past a tapestry of a wizard attempting to teach ballet to trolls in tutus, a door magically appeared in the wall and Harry's favourite house elf stood in the opening, motioning Harry to come inside.

"Hurry, Mr Harry Potter, hide in here!"

The door vanished as it closed behind Harry and when Ron Weasley arrived just a minute later, he swore to get even with Fred and George who'd sent him to the seventh floor to drag Potter back to the dorm.

))**((

Inside a large, marvellous room, Snot explained the 'Room of Requirement' to the young wizard.

"This is wonderful! Hogwarts is so wicked!"

"Hogwarts is not evil, Mr Harry Potter," insisted Snot.

Harry laughed and explained, "It's a muggle expression Snot. It means the castle is great, smart, powerful, and beautiful all at the same time."

Snot nodded once, seeming to hear another voice as well as Harry's. Then the conversation turned serious as Harry asked, "Snot, I know it's a long time until June but I need to start and figure out how to survive next summer. The Dursleys won't be happy when I come back for two whole months."

"There are two things you must do, Mr Harry Potter," Snot said. "First, make me your elf, then you must listen to me. I can help you."

"Do wizards own elves? Are you slaves?" asked Harry with honest horror in his questions.

"Elves are not slaves. To have magic and to survive, we must bond to a wizard or to a place with a great deal of magic."

"Like Hogwarts or St. Mungo's?" suggested Harry.

Snot nodded and added, "The only other places in Britain are Gringotts Bank and the Ministry of Magic."

"What happens when you become my elf?"

After a long discussion on bonding with the elf, Harry's contribution of magic and Snot's obligations to Harry after bonding, Harry agreed to take Snot as his elf. The bonding took only a moment and while Snot staggered slightly feeling the surge of magic he received from Harry, the boy merely grinned to feel the connection form.

"Mr Harry Potter is very strong!" Snot insisted. "I shared Hogwarts magic with many elves but you… I'll have to find out what all I can do now."

"That's great Snot!"

"But we will not tell anyone!" Snot insisted. "If old smelly Whiskers heard that I was your elf, he'd ban me from the castle."

"I won't tell anyone!"

"Good," replied the elf who also produced a book that he handed to his new master. "And you're going to read this book and memorize the underlined passages this weekend."

"What? Why?"

Then Snot explained about Dumbledore's ability to read everyone's mind. The book's passages would give Harry's mind spell-crafted protections and when Dumbledore or any other wizard with the ability to read minds attempted to read his mind, he would be struck with a blinding headache within seconds.

"And when you get older, I will provide you with another book to learn legilimency to create additional protection in your mind."

As Harry Potter's elf (and with the help of Hogwarts, the ghosts and the portraits not in Dumbledore's office), Snot set in motion plans to heal, train, and help Harry Potter survive the misadventures the headmaster planned, his terrible muggle relatives, and the stupidity of the average British wizard.

The same night as the bonding, Snot went to the infirmary while Poppy was at dinner with everyone else in the Great Hall. The students would leave for home the next day and no one wanted to be in the infirmary under the mediwitch's care this evening.

From his years at St. Mungo's, Snot knew how to read medical records, and he knew the names of potions to heal abused children. As soon as he'd read the file on Harry James Potter, Snot knew the mediwitch had not done her job properly.

There were two bonds on Harry's magic – one from his parents and a second one from Albus Dumbledore. There were potions to remove them gradually over a period of several days and the boy would find a marked improvement in his magic then.

Other potions during the coming months would heal all the badly healed bones, organs, and muscles that needed to be healed, while shampoos and soaps would remove the scars.

There was nothing in Poppy's records about the famous scar on Harry's forehead and Snot knew he'd have to investigate it before summer. In a short meeting with Severus Snape, the potions master agreed to brew the extra potions the elf needed but he was missing three expensive ingredients he could not purchase without attracting the headmaster's attention.

"Snot will get the ingredients, Severus," the elf replied and disappeared with the list. He spent the rest of the night in the Room of Requirement, searching abandoned trunks for galleons, and other monies. He also found several expensive robes, artefacts and some jewellery that he took to second hand shops in Diagon Alley. The proprietors bought everything that Snot offered – it was Christmas and Yule and everyone was in search of the perfect gift.

Severus found the missing ingredients on his desk the next morning, Poppy found she was missing three healing potions that were often used by children after visiting their families over the holidays, and Harry had to drink three potions before breakfast that morning.

"But won't Ron hear us?" Harry whispered when Snot appeared. The elf shook his head and motioned toward the red-head's bed where Harry could hear him snoring loudly.

On the morning of 25 December, Christmas morning, there were no gifts at the foot of Harry's bed. He'd sent letters to a few people; Hermione, Neville, Susan Bones, and Ernie McMillian thanking them for their help while he learned about being a wizard that fall term and wished each of them a Happy Christmas or Peaceful Yule.

He had nothing to send as presents and no way to purchase any so he sighed that no one sent him any. There was a pile on Ron's bed – two jumpers from his Mum – one with a large P on the front that told Harry that his bed had been robbed before he woke. A couple books were already thrown on the floor and Harry hoped to be able to retrieve them later.

Seeing the boy-who-lived with no presents but with a look Ron couldn't interpret, the red head stuffed a piece of his mum's fudge into his mouth as he teased Harry saying, "Too bad you don't have any friends…"

After eating the entire box of fudge in just three days that his mum sent for Potter, Ron realized that he – Ron Weasley – was the best friend anyone in the world could have. He also suffered from sugar overload in his digestive system for two days.

_)**(_

After breakfast in the Great Hall, Harry walked through the castle to get his exercise – winter weather in Scotland prevented outdoor activities for the most part. A walk to the seventh floor of the castle provided the workout Harry's bones and muscles needed now that the potions from Snot were healing him.

At the tapestry of the dancing trolls, Snot waited outside the door to the Room of Requirement and ushered his wizard into a Christmas wonderland.

"What is all this Snot?" asked Harry as he noticed robes, robes and muggle clothes, boots, shoes, and books, presented as gifts around a twinkling Christmas Tree.

"Snot and Hogwarts have gifts for Mr Harry Potter from the Room of Requirement – vintage robes from a century ago that will make Draco Malfoy envious, good boots for winter weather, warm shoes for inside castle, many books, under clothes, warm socks. There's quills, parchment, and ink for your school work, and a good bag for your books each day."

"Thanks Snot! Thanks Hogwarts!" Harry declares as he examines the robes, shoes and boots. "I've never had a good pair of shoes or boots in my whole life."

))&&((

))&&((

SCENE Locking Spells and Fashion Trends

With the beginning of the winter term, a new DADA professor was assigned to Hogwarts. For November and December, the students worked with different Aurors who came in the mornings and left in the afternoon. But beginning the first of January, Alastor Moody became the professor for the rest of the year. The man was frightening to look at with scars and a mysterious magical eye but he was a great professor on the different shields for protection, spells to attack other wizards and creatures, and tactics for avoiding fights.

When the boys from the first year Gryffindor dorm (minus Ron who was in the Great Hall eating a second lunch) showed up at his door one afternoon, a half hour early for DADA class, he was surprised to hear their request for a strong locking spell that only their own magic could open.

"And McGonagall ignores the problems Weasley causes?" Moody asked when Potter explained in more detail about their problem with the 'thief' in their dorm.

"I'll teach you two spells, a good charm that'll protect your trunks and give any thief burned fingers too. And I'll teach you a simple charm to remove other spells like compulsions from another person. It sounds like your head of house is charmed to ignore complaints about that red head bum."

))&&((

There were several changes at Hogwarts that winter term; Harry Potter's vintage robes began a revolution in wizarding fashion at the school. Open front robes from the 1700s were much more comfortable and made dodging Professor Moody's spells easier.

Draco Malfoy demanded new robes from his mother and she provided them in the same 'vintage' style that was soon copied by all of Slytherin. The new robes made the fashion section of the Daily Prophet, and magical magazines in Britain.

When the girls and other boys in Slytherin gave Harry Potter credit for starting the 'vintage' style, Draco went on a tear in the Great Hall demanding that everyone tell the reporters that 'he' originated the style. With detentions from his own head of house, a scathing letter from his father calling him a 'mis-labelled' Gryffindor, and the scorn of the upper years, Draco was not having a good winter term.

))&&((

Across the Great Hall, Ron Weasley wasn't having a good winter term – for some reason, the old cat (McGonagall) started giving him detention and giving him extra homework when he was caught helping himself to the belongings of others. He spent every night in detention with some professor, never turned in his homework, and actually wrote his mother to complain.

There were a few floo calls made and for two days, McGonagall again ignored the Weasley boys but then she talked to Filius and to Pomona; the three professors began checking each other for compulsion spells at breakfast and dinner each day. The twins blamed Ron for their change in fortune as detentions piled up.

))&&((

With potions from Poppy's stores, from shops in Diagon Alley, and from Severus Snape, the house elf Snot healed Harry Potter's body and mind of ten years of neglect and abuse. The elf removed the blocks on Harry's magic slowly and left a subtle glamour on the young wizard to hide true power.

With the help of Hogwarts, Snot found the most usual ring in the Room of Requirement. The ring had an old charm called 'don't pay attention to me'.

"This is not the same as Notice-Me-Not," Snot explained to the boy in late February. "With this ring, other people will see you, even talk to you some but they won't care enough to shout, hit, or order you about."

Harry was so overcome with excitement, he knelt down and hugged his elf. "You are the bestest elf in the whole world, Snot!"

Embarrassed but joyfully happy that his master praised him so, Snot wiped his nose on this clean Hogwarts tea towel and said, "Now, don't wear at here at school. We must save it for summer."

Harry looked at the ring and asked, "Where do I hide it?"

Grinning Snot said, "In your trunk. Moody's charms and my notice-me-not makes Harry Potter's trunk safe from thief Weasley now."

SCENE Trouble for Dumbledore

To further muddy the waters around Harry Potter and Hogwarts in general, Snot spent time in the owlery and disabled the headmaster's charms that kept control of letters sent home by students. It took a week for Dumbledore to deal with old complaints and to hide evidence before he was able to restore the charm. Apparently, a stone had become covered with too much 'chalk' from the owls and wiped away the headmaster's charm.

One report that didn't go away was the report on the death of Quirinus Quirrell that occurred at Halloween. Amelia Bones descended upon Hogwarts with four Aurors and demanded to examine the chamber where the professor died, the remains of the professor, the dog and the troll.

"All those items were buried or disposed of the very next morning," Dumbledore informed the director of the DMLE who exploded in fury and ordered Dumbledore's arrest for interfering with a criminal investigation. It took two days for Dumbledore to get Fudge to dismiss the claim (after Albus paid a modest bribe) and get the matter swept under the rug again.

The Wizengamot did insist on a hearing regarding the death of a professor at Hogwarts during the school year (Amelia made certain enough members with children or grandchildren attending the school read her report). Fudge allowed the hearing to go forward despite Dumbledore's best efforts to bury this idea along with the pitiful remains of Professor Quirrell.

During the 'hearings' about the demise of Professor Quirrell, Dumbledore shifted the blame onto Deputy Headmistress McGonagall. Sensing a moment of weakness in Dumbledore, committee chairman Cornelius Fudge stripped McGonagall of her position as Deputy Headmistress and promised a shocked Dumbledore that the committee would appoint a new deputy before the first day of August.

With assistance from Minister Fudge and before Dumbledore could return to Hogwarts and spin some tale for Minerva, reporters from the Daily Prophet used a ministry floo to enter the castle and inform the 'former' Deputy Headmistress of her demotion. Students, reporters and other staff members were there when Dumbledore entered the Great Hall and they all watched McGonagall curse him in her native brogue, transfigure cups of tea into pots of hippogriff crap that were dumped on his head, and charm the dancing teddy bears on his purple robes to break wind each time the professor attempted to say anything.

The following morning, the Daily Prophet cover story included magical pictures of the pots of dung, and students fleeing the smell from the headmaster's robes.

Limping with a sore foot from Minerva's hexes, Dumbledore apparated within Hogwarts (the headmaster's privilege) from his office into the chamber where the Mirror of Erised stood. He conjured a chair and sat before the mirror and tried to avoid staring at the image the mirror showed him. That dream was lost in the past!

No matter the argument he tried or the meditation technique he tried, Albus made no progress in obtaining the stone. The mirror recognized that the headmaster 'desired' the stone for his own use for gold if not for the elixir, and so it refused to return the Philosopher's Stone.

The last letter from Flammel demanded the stone's immediate return. An unfortunate accident in their potions lab meant Nicolas and his wife had been without their elixir of life for the last four months and they had less than twenty days to live. After five hundred years, they would die and their mortal remains would turn to dust.

An hour of trying to find the stone left Dumbledore with a headache as well as dealing with other aches and pains magnified by the cold, damp room. Losing his temper, Albus Dumbledore bombarded the Mirror of Esired with an overpowering blasting spell that blew the ancient artefact into three thousand, seven hundred and ninety-two pieces. His close proximity to the artefact when he destroyed it meant that Dumbledore now had thirty-seven splinters embedded in his face, arms, and legs.

"Elf! I need a house elf?" he roared and because every elf feared an angry headmaster, Janus Thickery Snot was sent by the head elf to deal with Dumbledore.

The elf appeared with a pop and the headmaster motioned toward the shattered mirror and ordered, "Carefully collect the pieces of the Mirror of Esired. Put all the pieces into a box and bring it to my office."

Then Dumbledore apparated to the infirmary where Poppy healed him with a sour look on her face after he required her to pluck each splinter out by hand and return them to him.

))&((

In the cold and damp chamber, Snot joyfully set about cleaning up the smashed mirror. In the first box he summoned from the Room of Requirement, he placed each piece of the magical glass that once showed people their heart's desire. He sighed at the sadness the shards radiated; wizards lived their lives with regrets of missed opportunities. In a second box, he placed each of the shards of wood, the magic that supported the mirror fading quickly now; the headmaster would never be able to repair this artefact. Snot faithfully collected three thousand, seven hundred and fifty-five pieces of wood that when combined with the thirty-seven Poppy pulled out of Dumbledore should allow the headmaster to 'repair' the mirror.

))^^((

When Snot found the pretty red stone, the elf put that into a bag of marbles that he kept in his pocket – the headmaster's orders were to collect the pieces of the mirror – he'd said nothing about this pretty red stone.

After all the pieces of wood and all the pieces of the mirror were carefully stored in the two boxes, Snot popped them into the headmaster's office and placed them on the bookcase behind the headmaster's desk.

Snot paused for just a moment under the phoenix's sharp eyes, as he felt Harry Potter's magic call to him from two spots on the book case; on the top of the book case, there were several silver items that moved about, puffed or whistled with Harry's magic – Snot recognized items that healers used at St. Mungo's to monitor the health of patients at the hospital. From the bottom shelf, Snot felt the pull of an ancient artefact, something older than the pretty red stone in the bag of marbles in his pocket; something that 'belonged' to Harry Potter.

The elf glanced at the phoenix who warbled cheerfully to the elf and he bowed as she gave him explicit instructions.

))^^((

When Dumbledore decided against gifting Harry with his father's cloak of invisibility, a Potter family artefact, Hogwarts and Fawkes began seeking a way to get the cloak back to the boy. Now with the help of the elf that was bonded to Harry, Fawkes was determined to get the cloak to the boy and to inconvenience Dumbledore. With information from Fawkes, the elf popped to specific spot in the Room of Requirement and found an old invisibility cloak that was in the last moments of existence – Hogwarts had kept the cloak in stasis to prevent the collapse of the charms.

Snot popped back into the headmaster's office with the old cloak and substituted it for the one wrapped in Christmas paper on the bottom shelf of the bookcase. Fawkes sang happily and waved her wings to hide all traces of the elf's visit.

))^^((

Returning to his office from the infirmary, Dumbledore noted the two boxes with the pieces of the mirror placed on his bookcase. He added the thirty-seven pieces of wood pulled from his face, arms and legs, and then turned and sat at his desk.

Focused on seven reports that had to be completed before the end of the year – something that Minerva always did but refused to do this year since she'd lost the position of deputy – Dumbledore didn't hear or feel the last charms expire in the cloak on the bottom shelf expired. He was unaware of the fire that ignited until the smoke reached his nostrils.

He glanced up and saw Fawkes tilting her head from side to side as though singing one of her songs silently, looked left and then right without seeing fire outside the floo in the opposite corner. As he stood up and pushed his chair backwards, the flames at the bottom of the bookcase flashed upwards and consumed books, nick knacks, both boxes of shards from the mirror, and the monitoring devices.

Stumbling away from his desk, Dumbledore watched his throne consumed by the flames that were climbing the wall behind his desk and headed for his private bedchamber.

Casting water charms and calling house elves to help, the headmaster and elves managed to put out the fire but the acrid smell of smoke settled into all his robes, the mattress and pillows of his bed. The smoke also affected the pigments in the portraits of the previous headmasters and headmistresses of Hogwarts – every portrait went to sleep and most of them vanished as Hogwarts removed them to heal in other locations.

Shortly after extinguishing the fire, the headmaster summoned Minerva and Severus; they both were surprized to find Dumbledore's office destroyed so quickly and Minerva asked, "What started the fire?"

"I don't know," Albus admitted as Fawkes crooned a song to make the wizards and witch feel content and not seek too many answers.

Pulling out his wand, Severus asked, "May I?"

"Of course," Dumbledore replied motioning toward the charred chair, bookcase and blackened books. The potions master cast multiple spells and moved from one side of the office to the other with his spells.

Snape appeared to study the results from the spells for quite some time before he turned to Dumbledore and said, "You had a magical object that expired – something that was made of Demiguise hair. The hair explodes when stored in a clump without the magical charms that make it into a cloak."

Minerva turned on the headmaster and shouted, "Albus, you had the Potter cloak! What did you do to it that would make it die away?"

"Potter's cloak? Why did you have it?" Snape asked with true curiosity in his question.

"I thought to gift it to the boy this past Christmas… as a memento of his father. But he's such a disappointment, I decided to wait until a later time," Albus said, not willing to admit he also searched for clues of the third Deathly Hallow while holding the cloak in one hand and his Elder Wand in the other.

"I hope as his guardian you will make restitution for destroying a priceless artefact," Snape commented.

"As Potter's guardian, such a thing is not necessary!" Dumbledore insisted.

))&&((

Summoned to the Room of Requirement by his elf, Harry was opening the wrapped package that Snot insisted was a late Christmas present from Hogwarts. Inside the brilliant paper, Harry found a shimmering cloak that made him disappear from view.

"Snot, where did this… what is this?"

The elf smiled, summoned a mug of hot chocolate to help hide the taste of Harry's midday potions, and explained about the cloak – how it had been in the Potter family for centuries and couldn't truly be used by anyone except for a Potter.

"Hogwarts asked me to return it to you. And there are things the cloak can do… well, you will have to experiment this summer to find out what they are."

))^^((

Alone in his office, seated in a new and uncomfortable chair, Dumbledore suddenly sat forward when he remembered that the fire destroyed the shards of the Mirror of Erised – now he'd never be able to repair the mirror, and never retrieve the Philosopher's Stone.

His face in a sour and unpleasant expression that made the phoenix laugh, Dumbledore reached for a sheet of parchment and his ever-full quill to compose a letter to Nicolas telling him the stone had not fallen into the hands of the Dark Lord but it had been destroyed. His last line wished Nicolas and his wife well as they began their next great adventure.

Checking the calendar, Dumbledore knew the Flammels would expire before the end of the school year and he'd be safe from their revenge when he went on vacation in July.

))^^((

SCENE Unexpected Discovery

In April, Harry and Snot began exchanging ideas on dealing with the two month 'vacation' at Privet Drive with the Dursleys. After a couple experiments with the ring over two weekends, they believed that the muggles would ignore the boy-who-lived, feed him, and allow his presence in the house without any problem.

"Must you go back to Privet Drive? Could we escape to someplace else?" asked Snot.

"The headmaster says I have to go back to Privet Drive – he's my magical guardian or something, and 'he' decides where I spend my summer vacation."

"Snot could kill your muggle relatives…" the elf offered.

"No! Absolutely not!" Harry insisted. "I don't want anyone to die! We're not murderers… they always get caught anyway."

"Only the stupid ones do," Snot agreed.

Harry shook his head and said, "Snot, I know the Dursleys and if this ring works the way we think it will, I can have a decent summer with them. If something happened to them, who do you think old Whiskers would send me to live with?"

Snot pulled his arms close and wrapped them around himself whispering, "The Weasleys! That would be much worse than the Dursleys!"

Harry sighed and looked at a painting of a forest glade with sunshine breaking through the trees. He motioned toward the painting and said, "I wish I could hide in a magical painting."

The elf was quiet for a time and scratched his head as he held a conversation with Hogwarts. Finally, Harry noticed that Snot was thinking too much and asked, "What are you plotting over there?"

The elf looked up and asked, "Is Mr Harry Potter willing to try slipping in and out of magical paintings?"

"Well, yeah, but I thought the people in the paintings were all dead and just part of their souls were captured there."

"True, but Harry Potter is very powerful wizard with blocks removed. House elves have a charm to send tea and whiskey, new clothes and furniture into portraits when we have our most power at the solstice celebrations."

"Since Snot became your elf, I could do it anytime," the elf explained. To demonstrate, Snot summoned an old cauldron from a pile in the room and then casually sent it flying toward the painting of the forest scene. Rather than bouncing off the canvas as Harry expected, the cauldron flew into the picture and clanged against a tree before it fell to the ground, making more noise.

"Wicked!" Harry exclaimed and after Snot taught him the charm, Harry banished cauldrons into the forest scene for five minutes until casting the charm was second nature.

Looking round the Room of Requirements, Harry and Snot found several non-magical and magical paintings. There were nice magical paintings of a library in Rome, a castle in the Austrian Alps, a country house in France with gardens, cattle, and flower gardens, and a traditional school room with a teacher waiting for her student to come to class.

"Which one first?" Harry asked, his wand in his hand.

"No!" Snot exclaimed. "Mr Harry Potter won't be guinea pig for testing! We will send a living creature into a painting and then pulling them back out."

Nodding in agreement after thinking about the elf's argument, Harry sat down to figure out how to test the charm with something living.

He told the elf, "It'll need to be something that's living and not a conjured or transfigured animal."

"How about Hedwig?" Snot asked but then ducked his head to hide from the look on Harry's face. "Okay, not pesky owl."

"She'd vote to use the pesky elf!" Harry quipped and Snot had to nod his head. He and the owl merely co-existed.

"How about Ron's rat?" Snot suggested. "It's really old and smells terrible. He'd not miss it."

"That would be stealing and I don't want to steal…"

"We just borrow the rat. If something happens to it, we replace it or give him a couple galleons."

"Anonymously," Harry said. "I don't care how many galleons I give him; he'd blame me forever if anything happened to the rat and I was blamed."

While Harry selected a painting for the test, Snot went to the dorm and 'borrowed' the rat that was sleeping in Ron's bed. Ron was at the Ravenclaw vs Slytherin Quidditch match cheering for the Ravenclaw team.

Harry picked a magical painting that displayed a small area where the rat could not run and hide when he wanted to call it back. Snot popped back into the Room of Requirement with the sleeping rat and cast the spell to send the rat into the painting.

Harry and Snot watched closely as the rat appeared in the painting, woke and appeared to stagger for a second, but then the figure of the rat blurred as it transformed into a man, a wizard who rubbed both hands over his face, again and again before pulling out a wand.

Snot snapped his fingers to close the portal into the picture while he and Harry watched the wizard.

"Who are you?" asked Harry.

"Let me out! Let me out!" cried the wizard.

"Who are you?"

Blubbering the rat-faced man replied, "My name… my name is Peter… Peter Pettigrew."

Leaping in front of the portrait, Snot silenced the man before he explained some history to Harry.

With the silencing spell removed, Snot questioned the rat-man with an elven spell that encouraged the wizard to answer questions. Peter cried and tried to deny having anything to do with the death of James and Lily Potter but he contradicted himself and blubbered continuously.

While the man was sobbing, Snot jumped into the portrait, petrified and disarmed the wizard, and searched him. The elf popped back out of the canvas with two wands, a money bag, and a few small items that were spelled to be port keys.

"I won't let you leave this frame until I know more about you," Harry told the rat man who continued to cry and beg to be released. Snot silenced the painting again and then hid the painting deep in the Room of Requirement behind old chamber pots.

_)&&(_

SCENE Funeral for a Rat

Harry found it difficult not to confess to Ron about 'borrowing' Scabbers, but Ron didn't seem concerned when his rat wasn't around that evening. During the night, Hedwig provided Snot with a dead rat, that the elf transfigured to look more like Scabbers – especially the missing toe. The elf placed the dead rat at the foot of Ron's bed.

In the morning, Ron found the dead rat and didn't hesitate to pick it up and laugh while swinging it around by the tail. Then he threw at Neville, then Dean, and finally Harry. Harry dodged the carcass and it flew through the door to smack the seventh-year prefect in the face.

The prefect threw up just a little. Then he grabbed the rat by the tail and Ron by the ear before proceeding down the stairs to find Professor McGonagall. After sending the prefect on his way to breakfast after cleaning his face with a strong charm, McGonagall frowned at Ron who pretended to shed a tear at the death of his pet.

"Bring your pet, Mr Weasley and we'll bury him in the Forbidden Forest before breakfast."

"Uh… we'd miss a lot of breakfast time… Just banish Scabbers for me."

"Are you sure?" McGonagall asked and when the boy looked toward the door and the waiting breakfast, she banished the rat.

That was the funeral for Scabbers.

At breakfast, Ron blabbed about the dead rat and enjoyed watching the girls turn pale and move away from him. Harry listened to the boy's full story and didn't feel bad about 'borrowing' Scabbers.

++(&&)++

SCENE Another Discovery!

"Well Peter Pettigrew and you both survived entering the canvas of a magical painting," Harry told Snot. "And you came out without any problem. Let's see if I can do it."

With Peter Pettigrew's prison painting shrunken and hidden away, Snot and his wizard looked through the collection of paintings in the Room of Requirement and chose one without much detail or comforts for the boy's first venture into a magical painting.

With some coaching from Snot, Harry cast the incantation and easily stepped 'into' the canvas. He turned around and found his view of the Room of Requirement to be restricted to the area immediately in front of the painting's frame. He saw Snot and waved.

"Can you hear me, Master Harry Potter?" asked the elf.

"Yeah, you sound normal," Harry replied. He lifted his wand and cast a few simple spells that lifted the table from the floor and threw light into each corner of the room. When he attempted to cast a spell to open the shutters on the windows, nothing happened. Confused for a moment, Harry walked the few steps to the window and attempted to open the shutters – again nothing happened.

"The painter must not have meant for the room to be more than just a simple still-life," Snot explained.

"I suppose you're right," Harry agreed. The room suddenly felt more like a cell than before, and he was reminded of his cupboard under the stairs.

"Come out, Mr Harry Potter," Snot called from the other side of the canvas and Harry did the simple incantation, added his magic to the spell and stepped forward. As he did, something in his head pulled and tugged back, as though it couldn't take the step with him.

Something in his head – his scar – couldn't make the passage back to the real world and it didn't want Harry to leave.

'_I want out! I want out now!'_ Harry thought with determination, gritted his teeth, and made the step that took him out. There was a moment of blinding headache as the boy went from the magical portrait and back to the real world.

When he was outside the canvas, Harry collapsed on the floor. Snot quickly ended the spell, closing the escape hatch from the painting before he turned to tend to his wizard.

"What happened?" asked Harry when he revived a minute later.

"You passed out, Mr Harry Potter. Your scar bled but now it seems to be healing after all these years."

Then the young wizard and his elf looked back at the painting and they both saw a small cloud of dark smoke forming in the simple painting of a room; a mouth appeared in the cloud and began screaming but Snot snapped his fingers, silencing the painting as a snakelike, but still human face, appeared. After a moment, the face faded away leaving only the mouth to scream silently again until the face appeared once more, to press up against the canvas.

Snot declared most sincerely, "Mr Harry Potter, you were a soul jar of the Dark Lord!"

Pointing toward the dark cloud floating around but trapped inside the magical painting, Snot said, "And that's a really ugly piece of his soul."

"What's a soul jar?" the boy asked, knowing he would not like the answer.

(**&**)

SCENE A Great Summer

Harry's summer changed for the better beginning the moment the young wizard placed the ring on his finger as he left Kings Cross train station in search of his relatives. When they found the boy standing beside them, Vernon and Petunia both blinked and grunted at his greeting but didn't say anything else. Vernon opened the trunk and even helped Harry place his trunk inside. The owl's cage was placed on the seat in the back where Harry sat for the ride back to Privet Drive without any conversation or threats from Vernon or Petunia.

At the house, Vernon helped Harry retrieve the trunk again and allowed him to carry it up the stairs without any protest. In his room, Harry opened the window and allowed Hedwig to fly out to hunt.

Without the usual 'pop', Snot appeared in the room and began to set things to rights with a better mattress and sheets for his Harry Potter. The clothes in the trunk were quickly packed away in drawers and the small closet.

After looking around the room, Snot expanded the closet to include a wall where Harry's selection of magical paintings were hung – the forest, the castle, the library, the country house, and the classroom with a teacher waiting at her desk. (The two paintings with 'prisoners' remained hidden in the Room of Requirement behind a large stack of discarded chamber pots from the early 1800's).

At supper that night, Harry was fed sufficient food and Dudley decided to ignore his cousin when a delicious second dessert appeared at his place at the table. Then Harry did the wash up (with Snot's help) before bidding his aunt and uncle a good night.

The next morning, Snot helped Harry to prepare an excellent breakfast that sent a happy Vernon off to work, Petunia to her book club, and Dudley searching for his friends without a thought for Harry Potter. Snot insisted on cleaning up the dishes and sent Harry upstairs to begin his summer homework.

After lunch with his aunt and cousin, Harry again went to his room and with Snot locking the door, he entered the painting of a castle with his broomstick in hand and spent the next two hours flying around turrets and flags. Guards on the parapets waved merrily when Harry passed by.

His evening repeated the night before, supper followed by some homework and reading laid out by Snot before bed.

This set the pattern and tone for Harry's entire summer. If Petunia noticed the cleanliness of her home, she said nothing in thanks, and if Vernon noticed the perfection of the cuts of meat that Petunia served for dinner, he kept his praises only for his wife's ear.

**(&&)**

During July and early August, Harry explored the library painting and spent many hours with the classroom teacher who helped him improve his skills in writing compositions, using the quill, and revising his first-year classes in charms, potions, and history.

When Snot checked at Hogwarts that none of the professors were present, Harry travelled through the portraits to visit several paintings there and talked to historical wizards and witches who were silent most of the year.

For an adventure, he ventured inside paintings that hung in Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin dormitories. None of the houses had a true portrait of their founder – the wizard whose portrait hung in the Slytherin common room was a headmaster from the 1300's from Ravenclaw. He played the role of Salazar Slytherin with good spirits every twenty years or so to keep the 'little devils' on their toes.

Harry's absolute favourite painting was the castle in Austria in the mountains where he could fly without worrying about muggles, aeroplanes, dragons, or any ministry official. One afternoon just after he took off, Dumbledore's phoenix Fawkes appeared in a ball of fire.

Holding his position on his broomstick, Harry waited for the phoenix to draw close.

"Are you here to make me a prisoner? Are you going to tell on me?" he demanded of the phoenix. She merely circled around, turning flips and encouraging him to fly.

Harry relaxed and began to play tag with the phoenix, chasing her through the clouds and around the castle turrets. They drew a crowd from the castle's inhabitants who saw a wizard chasing a fireball through the sky above the castle to defend them from fire and death.

From that afternoon, anytime Harry flew around the castle, Fawkes would join him, teaching him to feel the flow of magic in the air that rose from earth below them.

When Harry's examination results arrived with the next year's book list, Snot realized that someone or something must be stealing his wizard's letters. Hedwig and Snot worked together to set a trap; Hedwig allowed Snot to disguise her and she flew in with a parchment simply labelled 'Harry Potter' that she dropped on 'her' boy's desk. A strange elf appeared for less than a second but it was enough for Snot to catch a beaten and bedraggled elf named Dobby.

Harry came up to his room to find Snot with a prisoner of the elven kind – Hedwig kept threatening to kill and eat this 'Dobby' character so the little fellow was hysterical by the time Snot completed telling Harry the story about a terrible danger at Hogwarts in the coming year.

"Can you find out who his master is?" Harry asked Snot.

"Yes, Mr Harry Potter, Snot can find out."

"No, please. Bad master will beat and kill Dobby three times a day for ten days if he finds out Dobby trying to help Harry Potter!"

"Will you stop stealing my mail?" Harry asked and Dobby shook his head.

"But Harry Potters must not return to Hogwarts!"

"What about the other kids? They're just as important as me?"

With that, Dobby collapsed in new hysterics. Snot healed the elf's wounds (self-inflicted and master-inflicted) fed him an elven calming potion and sent him home with a pop.

"Don't tell me who he belongs to," Harry instructed Snot while he praised Hedwig for her part in the trap for the elf.

"Keep an eye on him when he comes around, and we'll be nice to him."

Shaking his head in disapproval, Snot verbally agreed to his wizard's directions while he and Hedwig exchanged glances. She might dine on elf if Dobby caused any more problems.

++))**((++

Looking at Harry's grades – he was fifth in his class of forty-two students in his year – he and Snot looked through the old text books from the Room of Requirement and found he had most of the books already. There were two supplemental texts from the seventies that would help so he kept them.

He only needed three new books – Snot refused to allow Harry to buy the of worthless books by Gilderoy Lockhart. The boy-who-lived realized something truly bothered this elf because Snot never lost his temper until he saw that wizard's name on the book list as the professor for the coming year. When the elf deflected Harry's questions, the pair of them delayed the explanation for later.

Harry also needed some new muggle clothes, as well as potion ingredients, parchment and a wrist holder for his wand.

"How can I get some of my money?" Harry asked Snot.

The elf thought for a long time and then said, "Snot has some money from the Room of Requirement stuff that we sells to dealers. But the shops in Diagon Alley don't want lots right now."

"What about some muggle shops?" Harry asked and Snot shook his head.

"Snot has hard time holding glamour of old man around muggles without Mr Harry Potter being with me," the elf explained. "If you could go with me, we'd make lots of sales."

"We'll have to plan for that next summer," Harry said.

Snot pulled out the money he still had from selling items before Christmas and came across his bag of marbles. The bag felt significantly heavier and without mentioning it to Harry, he opened the bag and poured out golden marbles.

"Say! That's cool, Snot," Harry said as the marbles fell on his bed. "Where'd you get the gold?"

"Snot… I don't not know," the elf replied as the two of them spread the golden marbles around and Harry found a pretty red stone.

"What's this?"

His elf explained how he'd found the stone in the blasted parts of a mirror that Dumbledore destroyed at the end of the school year.

"And your bag was filled with marbles before you put the stone in there?"

"Yes, Snot collected marbles for many years," the elf said sadly. "Snot had fifty-three marbles of every colour and size."

"And we've got fifty-three golden marbles now," Harry said letting a few pieces of gold fall from his hand back to the covers on the bed.

Snot sat and considered the golden marbles, and his wizard, Mr. Harry Potter.

"Snot…" the elf shook his head and cleared his mind. "There's something making me talk elf-nonsense, Mr Harry Potter."

Harry shrugged and said, "It's not a problem Snot. You're the bestest elf in the world so if you want to talk like some of the other elves, I don't care."

Pleased not to have disappointed Harry Potter, Snot continued, "I think I can sell the marbles – just a few at a time to merchants in Diagon Alley."

"That'll help a lot Snot but I've got money in Gringotts, I just can't get to it. Hagrid took me to Gringotts once to get some," Harry said as he handed the gold marbles and the red stone back to his elf. Snot put the red stone back into his bag where he'd kept his marbles but placed the golden marbles into a wallet – an even more secure magical device every elf had to carry their master's money and valuables.

"How did giant Hagrid get you into Potter vault?" the elf asked.

"He had my golden vault key," Harry replied and his eyes suddenly met Snot's.

"Hagrid had Mr Harry Potter's vault key?"

"Yeah and I guess he gave it back to Whiskers."

"Snot is Harry Potter's elf; I will find Harry Potter's vault key."

That night while Harry slept, Janus Thickery Snot made his way across Britain, searching for his wizard's vault key. First, he checked at Hogwarts in the headmaster's office and room, but there wasn't any sign that the vault key had been there in some time. The elf relaxed and focused on the magic from Harry and allowed that connection to lead him back to England.

In the early hours of the morning, Snot gazed upon a strange looking house know by the inhabitants as the Burrow. In a jewellery box in the master bedroom, he found and removed Harry Potter's vault key. No one in the Burrow ever knew they'd been visited by a house elf, let alone the house elf who belonged to Harry Potter.

There was one development during the summer that Snot and Harry didn't have a direct hand in pushing forward. The committee that Albus managed to convince to blame Professor Minerva McGonagall for the death of Professor Quirrell, finally decided on a suitable candidate for the now vacant position of Deputy Headmistress; Delores Umbridge, the Minister's Undersecretary would take the post effective 1 August.

SCENE "Burrow? No Thanks!"

During the second week of August, a letter arrived via owl from Albus Dumbledore informing Harry that he'd be sending Arthur Weasley to collect Harry and his trunk on Saturday to spend the last two weeks of the summer vacation with the Weasley family.

In the letter, Harry read:

**They are such strong supporters of the light; I believe it will be good for you to spend time with them. Your best friend, Ron Weasley, looks forward to flying with you and helping you complete your summer homework. Mrs. Weasley, Ron's mother, can do all your school shopping for you. **

'_You mean Ron wants to copy all my homework so he doesn't have to do any,'_ Harry thought.

After thinking for another minute, he went to his aunt and asked for a favour. With only a moment's hesitation, she agreed to the request and shortly thereafter, the messenger owl was winging his way back to Hogwarts with the following letter.

**Professor Dumbledore,**

**I can't possibly part with my nephew before the first of September. Do not send any of your freaky people to attempt to collect him. I will report that as kidnapping. There are too many chores here for him to complete to be traipsing all over England with your kind!**

**Petunia Dursley**

When he received the reply to his letter, Dumbledore was confused – the boy should see this as an opportunity to escape from his prison! But the signature on the letter was real and apparently signed without coercion; Petunia Dursley was Harry Potter's guardian in the mundane world so until 1 September the boy-who-lived would remain at Privet Drive.

Wading up the letter, he went to the floo to inform Molly she wouldn't have a house guest after all.

"Oh Albus, I am sorry to hear that," Molly said without as much shouting as Dumbledore had expected. Her next words quickly cleared up his confusion.

"It seems that Potter's vault key has been 'lost'. I can't find it anywhere but knew that once he was here, I could take him to Gringotts and get it replaced for just a few galleons."

Albus frowned through the flames and Molly shrunk back a little to see that unusual look on the headmaster's face.

"Find it! Shake those three rascals of yours until their teeth fall out of their heads but find that key, Molly!" Dumbledore said. "I can't access any funds without it!"

"Yes headmaster, I'm sure it's here somewhere," Molly replied as Dumbledore broke the floo connection. With soot and ashes in her hair and clothes, Molly Weasley turned and began yelling for Fred, George, and Ron to appear in her kitchen.

Many minutes later, Ron still shivered with fear at his mother's rage but he managed to say, "Why don't you ask Ginny? She talks about Potter all the time and she could have taken the key as easy as me!"

Fred and George remained silent; their posteriors sore from their mother's stinking hexes cast after their strong denials to stealing the key to Potter's vault from their mother's jewellery box.

"Ginevra Weasley! Where are you?" screamed Molly.

Everyone at Hogwarts found Dumbledore and McGonagall to be short-tempered in August and the new Deputy Headmistress soon brought the cauldron to a boil.

SCENE Late Summer 1992

When Dobby appeared at Privet Drive again, Snot captured the elf and forced more of the story from him; his bad master planned to send something evil to Hogwarts that would kill many 'mudbloods and blood-traitors'.

Dobby begged, "Snot knows that Harry Potters can't go to Hogwarts!"

The older elf shook his head and said, "Elves must protect and help our wizards but Harry Potter is only wizard who can help all others! Snot will help Harry Potter!"

Crying, Dobby begged Snot to call for him if the elf needed help and returned to his home to serve his bad master for another day.

Albus Dumbledore found it impossible to juggle Delores Umbridge, the Wizengamot, the ICW and the upcoming school year. He lost sleep and looked each of his one hundred and thirty-seven years! The last person to cross his mind was Harry Potter, so the young wizard had a quiet end to his summer vacation. He couldn't access the boy's trust vault either and couldn't make any payments to various minions and government officials who expected the annual payment to remain loyal.

On the last day of August, with Cornelius Fudge present in Dumbledore's office (that still smelled of smoke from time to time), the new Deputy Headmistress announced that she had decided to change the sorting ceremony. There weren't any objections immediately following her announcement because no one present could imagine such a thing.

"I am certain you will agree that the sorting should begin with all the good pureblood families, then the lessor purebloods, who will be followed by the half-bloods."

Minerva, who was enjoying the different shades of purple in Dumbledore's face, asked, "But what of the muggleborns, Delores? When do we sort the muggleborns?"

The rotund, toad faced woman waved a hand dismissively, "They can all go to Hufflepuff… that's where they belong."

From its place on a shelf far away from the headmaster's desk, the sorting hat spoke up, "Delores Umbridge! How dare you attempt to interfere with Hogwarts traditions! And you… remember you're practically a muggleborn and spent seven less than memorable years here in Hufflepuff in the sixties."

The hat proved to be merciless adding, "I believe Professor Sprout managed to get you graduated with a single NEWT in charms."

"HOW DARE YOU!" the witch screamed, threatening the sorting hat with her wand.

"Now, now, Delores, you know your father is a squib cast away by the Selwyn family before they died out, and your mother is a lovely muggle. They live outside of London and avoid your visits by hiding under the furniture when you apparate into their backyard."

Incandescent with rage, Delores Umbridge made an error – she attempted to cast an incendiary spell at the Sorting Hat. Hogwarts grabbed the spell, turned it around and set the deputy headmistress on fire. As her hair burned, Delores proved she could scream as loud as Molly Weasley at her finest.

Then the witch stumbled backwards and fell down the circular staircase in Dumbledore's office. While the long tumble did extinguish the fire, Delores broke several bones hitting the hard steps.

"I shall summon healers from St Mungo's," Dumbledore said after Minerva reminded him that she was no longer the 'deputy headmistress' and such commands over the floo system were not something she could do any longer.

Cornelius frowned, drank two glasses of Firewhiskey and demanded to be kept informed of developments in the castle until Umbridge was healed and returned to her post at the school.

"I just got rid of her, Dumbledore! I won't take her back!" he told the headmaster not realizing that the rest of the staff was still present and listening to his every word.

As soon as the healers came through the green flames in the fireplace, Cornelius threw in more floo powder and left for the ministry.

Searching through the broken toys left in his bedroom, Harry found what he was looking for – a small cardboard box with about fifty marbles in it.

When Snot appeared in the bedroom the next morning to help Harry prepare breakfast, the boy had a package for his elf.

"You're not giving me clothes, are you?" Snot asked.

Harry blushed and replied, "I remembered that I can't 'give you' clothes. I just tell you what to wear. But this is a gift from me to the bestest elf in the world."

Opening the box and finding blue, red, green and yellow marbles with a least two 'shooters', the old elf found himself crying like that Dobby character.

"Mr Harry Potters gives Snot marbles! Beautiful marbles!"

Hugging the elf, Harry said, "Don't cry Snot. Please don't cry."

"I just be happy!" the elf explained, dumping the marbles into his bag again with the pretty red stone.


	2. Chapter 2

The Magical Portrait Charm

This Harry Potter story was written for fun. All rights belong to the wonderful lady (JK Rowling) who gave the world Harry Potter to read and enjoy.

Story Line: Second year is terrible for everyone with some people simply disappearing. Harry doesn't trust any of the adults even after making terrible discoveries. But the ability to slip into and out of magical paintings helps.

And remember, the elf's name is intentional.

Chapter 2: Second Year

)**&&**(

SCENE Wrap Up Summer

Among the letters that Harry received over the summer were two from Hermione Granger; she'd spent her vacation at home with her parents and then the family travelled to Spain for almost three weeks. She'd suggested they meet in Diagon Alley to shop for books, clothes, and potions ingredients, but Harry replied that his guardian felt it was safer if he just remained at Privet Drive and that someone had already shopped for him.

In her second letter, Hermione endorsed Headmaster Dumbledore's recommendation and she praised Harry's willingness to follow the wizard's directives. She never considered for a moment that someone else might have wanted to keep Harry away from the wizards in Diagon Alley.

)**&&**(

Other correspondence that made it through the Dobby blockade had been letters from Neville Longbottom that came in the muggle post. In their first year, the Gryffindor 'orphans' established a friendship that began with mutual avoidance of Ron Weasley and then grew with learning to negotiate Hurricane Hermione with her work ethic, to placate Mount Saint Minerva and prevent eruptions, and to hide from Creepy Old Whiskers who stared at Harry entirely too much during meals in the Great Hall.

The boys exchanged letters that summer about Neville's work in his greenhouses, Harry's imaginary adventures flying with Fawkes around a castle in Austria, and their summer homework. Both boys wanted to see if they could climb in the class rankings this year.

)**&&**(

Harry wrote:

**But we have to wait before we tell Hermione. She might not approve and I don't want to hear fifty lectures about it before Halloween if she doesn't approve. **

)**&&**(

When the first of September dawned, Harry bid his aunt and uncle farewell until the following June. He'd talked with Snot about how to 'reward' his relatives so they'd think better of him and his return next summer.

They decided that they needed a way to pay for things in the muggle world with muggle money. Seeking help, the elf went to Gringotts and talked to elves working there, and finally to a couple of goblins who worked with muggleborn wizards. His pile of golden marbles captured their undivided attention.

After testing the golden marbles and verifying that they were indeed pure gold with trace elements of minerals from Italy, the goblins agreed to exchange the 'new' gold for galleons in an exchange of equal weights. But Snot asked about exchanging the golden marbles for muggle money and the goblins gave the elf an even better deal of a thousand pounds for each marble. The bank often had problems finding anyone to take the muggle paper so this was a good way to get rid of it.

)**&&**(

On his way out the front door on the first of September, Harry said goodbye to his aunt and uncle, "I plan to remain at school for the holidays but I wanted to thank you for being such gracious hosts this summer."

He pulled a large envelope from the pocket of his robes and handing it over, explained, "A friend got me some pounds and I thought you should have it 'cause I can't use it at school."

Vernon and Petunia exchanged glances and when they looked around, the boy had already disappeared through the front door. Quickly, Vernon counted the cash – three thousand pounds in non-sequential bills.

"He really wasn't a burden this summer," Petunia reminded her husband.

"And he kept that freakishness to himself," agreed Vernon.

And so it was that the Dursleys wished Harry Potter well for the first time in eleven years.

)**&&**(

SCENE Hogwarts Express

Once out of sight of No.4 Privet Drive, Harry removed the ring from his finger for the first time since returning to London in June.

"Not yets, Mr Harry Potters," Snot chided his wizard. "We have to get past muggles, wizards and that crazy house elf before we puts… before you're on the Hogwarts Express."

"Why do you sound funny sometimes?" Harry asked, slipping the ring back onto his finger.

Snot frowned and explained, "That house elf, Dobby, he was never taught to speak properly and he has – uh – infected me with it."

The elf wiggled uncomfortably before asking, "Is it a problem, Mr Harry Potter?"

Grinning and shaking his head, Harry replied, "No. As long as there's nothing wrong with you. Remember, I have the bestest house elf in all of Britain and I don't want anything to happen to you."

With a single pop, Snot moved Harry Potter from an alley way in Little Whinging to a special room in Kings Cross Station where students and their parents could apparate or floo into London to get on board the Hogwarts Express. He was rather early so Harry went outside the entrance to Platform 9¾ for a bottle of milk, a sandwich and a piece of fruit.

Snot used the glamour of an old man to accompany his wizard and he complained, "Why are we out here? You'd be safer inside!"

Snickering Harry replied, "Yes, Professor Dumbledore… I wanted to people watch for a time and there are more people out here."

"Harry Potter can still have stinging hexes hit his bottom!" Snot replied after the insult of being called Dumbledore.

While Harry ate his sandwich, Snot thought carefully about how to say something he feared that Harry might not like.

"Mr Harry Potter knows he cannot go flying around Castle on canvas much during school."

The boy stopped chewing and looked at Snot like he was a terrible person.

"Why not?"

"In Hogwarts, the Headmaster knows if 'someone' leaves the wards. When you step into a portrait, you might leave the wards of the castle."

"We'll have to test that theory!" Harry replied hotly for a moment but then flushed with embarrassment. "Sorry, Snot."

"You must build friendships and get to know more people at Hogwarts this year. Longbottom, Granger, Bones, Abbot, those are all people you met last year and began friendships. This year, you need to meet even more."

At ten o'clock, Snot pushed his wizard to return to Platform 9¾ and stake a claim to a compartment near the back of the train. At a quarter past, Neville joined him (directed to the proper door by Snot in his glamoured form) and just before the half hour, the two boys were joined by Hermione Granger, Susan Bones, and Hannah Abbot.

There was a ruckus on the platform when the Weasleys arrived with only five minutes to spare. Harry pulled back from the window but Susan watched the large family argue while pushing or pulling trunks across the platform, and she reported that a daughter with the same Weasley red hair, would be joining her four older brothers at school this year.

)**&&**(

During the trip north, between visits by the Weasleys looking for chocolate frogs, and other Gryffindors saying hello, Susan, Hannah, and Hermione noticed that once again Harry was dressed differently than the other students. He wore dark black trousers that looked almost muggle and a black button-down shirt with long sleeves, black boots with black buckles, and a matching belt.

"Where's your school robes?" Susan asked.

"What're you wearing into the Great Hall?" Hannah asked. "Malfoy was telling everyone in Diagon Alley he'd have the best robes this year and you're vintage robes were out of fashion."

Harry scoffed and replied, "Ladies, I'm not dressed for fashion. I wanted robes that were comfortable and let me move freely when I'm fighting in DADA class. I looked into history and these robes really fit the bill."

"Where did you get those robes?" Hermione asked as Harry pulled out the robes he would wear into the Great Hall that night. Snot had charmed the material to smooth out any winkles when it was hung up. The shorter-than-normal robe was a high-quality linen with an intricate design woven along the bottom.

"This is the type of robes worn by the Roman Wizards who conquered Britain two thousand years ago."

He blushed and added, "I kept my muggle pants, shirt and underwear but all the Romans wore underneath was a loin cloth and that'd been too cold in Scotland."

Giggling, Susan and Hannah came closer to examine the robe and to feel the tight weave of the material. As the girls complimented Harry on the new style, Neville chuckled and Hermione frowned.

"Professor Dumbledore will go spare again," Hermione stated.

"What do you mean?" asked Neville.

With news and exclusive gossip, Hannah and Susan hurried from the compartment to spread the news that once again, Harry Potter would change the styles of robes for young wizards at Hogwarts.

Hermione continued her explanation, "When Harry dressed in robes from the eighteenth century after Christmas, there were articles in the papers and magazines that Hogwarts was setting a new style. The shops all had to redesign robes for everyone."

"And?" Harry asked to encourage Hermione to explain.

"Well, the headmaster likes for everyone to follow his style," Hermione said.

Both boys began laughing and couldn't stop, even when Hermione stamped her foot and left the compartment to follow Susan and Hannah down the hall.

"Where does she get these wild ideas?" Neville asked. "Nobody dresses like Dumbledore!"

"Thank Merlin!" Harry added.

"You better put the robe on," Neville said.

"Why?"

"Hannah and Susan will make certain Malfoy hears the news and he'll have to come see them."

Now grinning, Harry opened his trunk again and pulled out another set of robes, slightly longer for his slightly taller friend, and threw them to Neville.

"You too then," the boy-who-lived told his friend. "If they're going to talk about me, you'll have to help me."

Neville lifted the robes and noticed the design along the bottom was a runic string for protection, warmth, and clear vision woven into the material in the Longbottom family colours.

"Thanks Harry!"

)**&&**(

It wasn't ten minutes before the door of the compartment was thrown open and Draco Malfoy, dressed in robes in the vintage style Harry wore last year stomped into the room and began to say, "Abbot said Potter had…"

Harry and Neville stood opposite the door, wands at the ready and looking like the dangerous Roman wizards who brought wands to lead the Roman armies in the conquest of Britannia. They'd stand out in the crowd of students in the Great Hall tonight while Draco was merely an 'also ran' with the vintage robes.

"Just wait until my father hears about this!" Draco declared as he stomped back up the narrow hallway, not bothering to close the door.

)**&&**(

The older students filed into the Great Hall while Hagrid brought the firsties across Black Lake. Harry and Neville made their way toward the doors with Susan, Hannah, and a disgruntled Hermione, as murmurs grew among the witches and the wizards about the new style of robes the two Gryffindors wore.

Draco Malfoy stomped and snorted as if he were a chained hippogriff because no one commented on his robes; after watching for a time, Professor Snape decided to discuss the boy's obsession with acting as if he were a member of Gryffindor. Nott and Zambini were just as aware as Draco that Potter and now Longbottom were capturing everyone's attention but they didn't allow others to see that they were paying attention.

By the time that McGonagall brought in the firsties to be sorted, everyone was seated at their house tables and waited for the sorting hat to begin. Neville paid some attention to the sorting but Harry and Hermione both searched the head table for changes. The new DADA professor practically sparkled with glitter as he tried to outshine Dumbledore who wore bright green robes with dancing Leprechauns and Shamrocks that ran into each other and exploded into fireworks over and over again.

"Do you see the new Deputy Headmistress?" Hermione asked and Harry shook his head.

"She's some ministry toad but the only new face is that ponce Goldilocks who'll pretend to teach DADA."

"Harry! His name is Gilderoy Lockhart. You must call him Professor Lockhart!"

"Yes, Hermione," Harry said to concede a battle he didn't want to fight. It seemed that Neville wearing the new style of robes had moderated Hermione's protest against the Roman robes.

)**&&**(

In the Slytherin common room, after the firsties had been sent to their rooms, and Snape had made his first night speech, everyone was surprized to hear the portrait of Salazar Slytherin clear his throat. Every Slytherin gathered around the portrait and the firsties were summoned from their rooms to listen to the first words of wisdom in twenty years from the founder of their house.

"I am very impressed with the style of robes worn by the two heirs who are in Gryffindor. I hope my house is wise enough to copy their lead!"

)**&&**(

SCENE Thieves Revealed

What seemed to be a good beginning soured at the end of the fourth day of the school year. The Gryffindor common room was busy with students working on assignments and sharing stories when there was a scream from up the stairs to the boys' dormitory. Prefects ran up the stairs and one quickly came back down to head out the door for McGonagall and then on to the infirmary to fetch Madam Pomphrey.

While everyone was blocked from going up the stairs, McGonagall hurried up and then sent down a second prefect to bring up Harry Potter.

"What did you do?" Hermione asked as Harry gathered his books and papers.

"What do you mean? I've been sitting here doing my homework, with you… remember?"

"You know what I mean!" she scolded but Harry ignored her and went up the stairs.

&+&))((&+&

In the second-year boys dorm room, Harry and the prefect found Professor McGonagall, and a wounded Ron Weasley; the young wizard held the wrist of one hand with the other while McGonagall used her wand to relieve the pain from terrible burns on his fingers.

Glancing at his trunk, Harry saw the scorch marks around the lock and knew what had happened.

"Mr Potter, what kind of locks and charms do you have on your trunk?" McGonagall asked heatedly.

"Professor…"

"He tried to kill me! It was a trap!" shouted Ron.

Madam Pomphrey arrived at just that moment, to push McGonagall away from her patient and set to work.

"Well Potter, I'm waiting!" McGonagall demanded.

"Professor, the locks and charms on my trunk are ones that Professor Moody taught us to use in DADA class last year."

"That's not true!" shouted Ron. With his uninjured hand, Weasley pointed toward Dean's trunk and said, "That trunk didn't have those spells on it!"

Minerva sighed as the stupid boy admitted to breaking into another students trunk. She pointed her wand at Ron despite Poppy's protest and summoned all stolen items. A few coins, potion ingredients, and a Quidditch magazine flew from Ron's pockets. The boy got a strange expression on his face as his under garments appeared to be trying to 'leave' and McGonagall ended the spell before she had to deal with dirty underwear.

She led Harry to his trunk and asked him to open the trunk. With his wand in his hand, Harry merely had to touch the lock and state, "Open" for the lid to pop up without any problems.

McGonagall cast another spell to verify the spells used to lock and protect the trunk – nothing was a trap. Without attempting to open Neville's trunk, she checked the locks used and found the same spells as used on Harry's.

Poppy took Ron to the infirmary and kept him there for three days as she had to rebuild a lot of tissue and nerves that had been burned in the boy's fingers. He whined and cried for most of his stay because he couldn't take pain potions that would interfere with healing the sensitive nerves in his fingertips.

Dean Thomas was pleased to have his belongings returned and quickly applied the same locking spells to his trunk.

&+&))((&+&

That same day, Delores Umbridge was back at Hogwarts and when she heard about the incident in the Gryffindor dorm, she began to gather evidence and asked for innuendo but for once there was a great deal of first hand testimony and evidence; the new Deputy Headmistress believed she'd finally found her place in Avalon.

At lunch in the Great Hall on the seventh day, the drama climbed to new heights. Ron had been released from the infirmary just after breakfast and he immediately went to the owls to send a long-delayed letter to his mother.

Molly arrived just as the students sat down for lunch.

Storming into the Great Hall, Molly began shouting, "Where is he?"

"Mum!" shouted Ron standing up and thinking she was there to see him. But Molly slipped around her son and focused on Harry Potter, jerking him up from his seat and back handed him across the face.

"How dare you try to kill Ron! He's your best friend?"

Neville imposed his body between Molly Weasley and his friend with his wand in his hand, he said, "Backup! Get back!"

Dumbledore, Umbridge, McGonagall, and Pomphrey hurried to reach the table before more blows could be landed on anyone.

"Lady, you're crazy!" Harry said pushing his way forward again. "Who the blazes are you?"

"You hurt my boy! Your trunk tried to kill him!" Molly declared as she slapped Harry again.

"Molly Weasley! Stop!" yelled McGonagall as she drew her wand and cast a petrification spell that missed Molly and hit Poppy Pomphrey, knocking her to the floor. Neville, Lavender, and Parvati scrambled to lift the mediwitch to her feet again.

Delores grinned; this would make a great story in the Daily Prophet and if she shared the memory, Rita could pull a picture of McGonagall's spell making the students scramble out of the way.

With the professors around and the rest arriving in just another moment, Molly stepped back but she pointed at Potter and yelled, "This boy hurt my son! I want the DMLE to arrest him!"

"Now Molly, everything is just a minor scrap between good friends…" Dumbledore began, pushing himself between Molly and Harry.

"No!" Molly declared. "I'm going to sue Harry Potter for hurting Ron. After everything Ron's done for him, everyone will agree it's only fair!"

More than one person was asking themselves, _'What's Ron ever done for Potter?' _

"But Mrs Weasley, you struck Mr Potter. You might have broken his jaw," Delores reported after checking with the revived Poppy. "The boy may spend a night in the infirmary."

Still trying to prevent a disaster, Dumbledore pleaded, "Now, everyone needs to calm down and let tempers cool. We can resolve this with some apologies and a few coins…"

"Headmaster," Poppy interrupted him. When Dumbledore apparently didn't hear her, she called out louder, "Headmaster!"

"Yes, Poppy?"

"Mr Longbottom indicates that he wants his grandmother called."

"Now, I'm certain there's no need to interrupt the important matters that Lady Longbottom is dealing with this afternoon."

"Albus, you can't sweep this under any carpet," Minerva said as she left to find a floo.

"Minerva! No! I forbid it!"

"Forbid a head of house from notifying a guardian when her grandson has witnessed a crime?" asked Delores as she hurried to write more notes on her parchment.

Looking up, Umbridge asked, "Would someone notify the DMLE and ask Director Bones to come to Hogwarts? Please?"

A dozen Slytherin students ran from the hall while Dumbledore shut down the floo system with a flick of his wand changing the wards. But after the problems the previous year with a dead professor, and a lack of accurate and timely information from the headmaster, Amelia Bones wanted her niece better protected this year. When she came to Hogwarts for her second year, Susan Bones wore a charmed bracelet that sent a message to her aunt without Dumbledore ever being made aware.

Within fifteen minutes, Amelia Bones and four Aurors came through the doors of the Great Hall just as Delores and Dumbledore began shouting at each other. McGonagall was back and looked ready to explode at Dumbledore as well. Before the headmaster noticed Director Bones, the witch spoke to her niece to identify the players in the drama before her.

With two Aurors covering the troublemaker Weasley children, Amelia sent the other two to escort Molly Weasley away from the children and collect her wand. Molly protested so she was stupefied and her wand confiscated. At wand point, Fred, George and Percy surrendered their wands and moved to sit apart from the other students.

When the headmaster, deputy headmistress and head of Gryffindor house continued to argue without a care for what was being said in front of all the students, Bones set off a cannon ball spell that finally grabbed their attention.

"I am Amelia Bones, Director of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. I declare this to be a crime scene and everyone will follow my orders or be arrested."

She glanced at the students seated around her and said, "Parents are never happy when I call them about a child's misbehaviour so sit there and be quiet."

"Amelia, you've come a long way over nothing… just a tiff between friends!" Dumbledore assured the director.

Staring at Dumbledore with a cold expression born from staring down criminals for twenty years, Bones said, "There's too much yelling between the adults for this to a 'tiff'. Allow me to use my time as I please, Headmaster Dumbledore."

"At least let's send the students on their way," Albus suggested.

"No!" exclaimed Umbridge. With a sweet smile on her face and her squeaky voice, she explained, "This is an opportunity for the students to see that the Ministry is in charge of all Magical Britain."

&+&))((&+&

"Wow!" a first year 'puff whispered to her third-year brother. "You said Hogwarts was exciting but this is crazy. Mum and Dad won't believe it!"

While waiting for the Aurors to bring Molly closer to question her, Amelia noticed the firstie in Gryffindor with the camera.

"Did you make pictures of the witch coming in the Great Hall?"

"Yes ma'am. I got the lady running in and slapping Longbottom and then slapping Harry Potter."

"If you'll make more pictures today, I'll get it developed for you and return a set of prints and the negatives tomorrow."

"Sure!" Colin Creevey agreed.

&+&))((&+&

With Molly standing without her wand, Amelia asked "Why did you slap this student?"

Pointing at Harry, Molly replied, "His trunk was booby-trapped and hurt my son."

"He booby-trapped your son's trunk?" asked Amelia.

"No, it was his trunk," Molly admitted.

"Why was your son trying to get into another student's trunk?"

"I… he must have needed to borrow a book."

Harry Potter shook his head and said, "Director Bones, last year Ron was always breaking into my trunk and stealing galleons and candy, taking books… anything he could sell to other students."

"In January, Auror Moody started as our DADA instructor and he taught us how to cast the 'fire lock' on our trunks."

"That's not true! Stop lying about my son," yelled Molly who didn't have a low volume setting apparently.

"No, I'm not lying. Everyone knows Ron and the twins are thieves."

Now Minerva interrupted, "Mr Potter! Fifty points from Gryffindor! We don't have thieves in Gryffindor. Ron might plunder and look but…"

"It's true. He's a thief!" declared Neville who was backed up by Seamus and Dean.

Seamus declared, "Last year, our trunks were rifled through regularly and even our underwear was stolen until Professor Moody taught us those locking spells."

Amelia tried to ask, "Why wasn't Mr Weasley taught…"

"He wasn't interested," replied Seamus before she could finish the question.

"He couldn't do the spells," Dean added. "All he was interested in was stealing. Just like Fred and George. Everyone is scared of them because they cast jinxes and hexes on you if you don't pay 'em to leave you alone."

"This is a terrible lie!" McGonagall declared and looked to her prefects to deny the thefts and the fear among the younger students.

"No, it's all true," Gryffindor Seventh- and Sixth-year prefects declared. "We've documented complaints from students about thefts by Fred and George in our reports for three years but you never said anything. We've taught everyone – even the girls – how to lock their trunks as soon as they get on the Hogwarts Express. In second year, Fred and George went through every trunk that wasn't locked and stole over fifty galleons."

Amelia turned on Minerva now and asked, "You never reported these thefts, McGonagall. Why?"

"I… I never read their reports… I had too many things to do," the flustered professor admitted.

The boys in the fourth-year dorm explained to Director Bones that they quit complaining about Fred and George stealing because the Weasleys played Quidditch.

"McGonagall thinks Quidditch is more important than anything else at Hogwarts, so we figured she'd let 'em steal whatever they wanted," the eldest prefect explained with a shrug.

Albus Dumbledore tried once again to interfere, saying, "I am certain that with some points and detentions for the Weasleys, this entire matter can be resolved and Hogwarts can continue our day with classes."

"But they're stealing! How can you ignore this?" asked Bones. "From students in their own house?"

Delores Umbridge used that question to step up and say, "Per the Hogwarts charter, we must have a hearing to determine if these thieves are expelled or arrested."

&+&))((&+&

SCENE Where's the Harm?

"Expelled? Arrested?" sputtered Molly.

Suddenly she tried to make light of the whole matter and dismiss it as not worthy of any adult's attention. "Where's the harm? The boys just took a few galleons."

"Wait a minute!" shouted Cedric Diggory at the Hufflepuff table. "Have you forgotten slapping my face for stealing an apple from your orchard when I was eleven years old, Molly Weasley?"

Amelia Bones motioned the 'puff to tell the whole story. "It was August before I started at Hogwarts and I walked over to the Burrow to ask Percy about the sorting. I was walking back home and saw my Mum and Mrs Weasley standing and talking under some apple trees. I walked up and helped Ron and Ginny fill a bucket with fruit. Then I picked one up from the ground, brushed it off on my sleeve and took a bite."

The young wizard turned to stare at Molly Weasley and continued, "Next thing I knew, Mrs Weasley slapped me and screamed that I was a thief! _'How many apples had I stolen from her poor family already?'_ She shouted at me and my Mum pulled out her wand and threatened her with a duel if she ever touched me again."

"But Mrs Weasley growled and called me a thief again and demanded that my Mum pay for the apple. My Mum pulled out a knut and threw it on the ground at Mrs Weasley's feet and we left."

Cedric stared at all the Weasleys and said, "We've never visited again and never will. Our wards won't let a Weasley on the place. So, Molly Weasley, don't try and ask about the harm of stealing galleons when you scream about a child eating an apple."

&+&))((&+&

SCENE Damages

Delores Umbridge vibrated with excitement – she'd have an excellent report to send to Cornelius tonight after only two days back from her unfortunate stay in St. Mungo's. She didn't care that Cornelius tolerated Arthur Weasley because the minister thought the man did a good job preventing the misuse of muggle devices, Delores would spin this into a trip to Azkaban for the mother if not for all her worthless blood-traitor spawn.

Pulling out a parchment, Delores read off the list of items stolen, destroyed or damaged by the Weasley twins and their youngest brother just in the last year. She turned to Dumbledore and McGonagall and said, "I believe even the Boy-Who-Lived was robbed last year. The Weasley boy in his dorm, Donald, cruelly ripped up the only photo the poor boy had ever had of his mother, Lily Evans."

Brushing away an imaginary tear of sympathy, Umbridge said, "And Professors Dumbledore and McGonagall brushed off the poor boy's tears as a nothing more than a simple misunderstanding."

Hearing these words from Umbridge's voice made Harry sick to his stomach; yes, it happened just as she said, but he didn't want to hear her telling the details to the whole school.

"McGonagall, you gave Mr Potter three nights of detention for the incident but the records show that Mr Weasley was not given any detention or even a simple reprimand."

Delores offered the parchment for anyone who cared to read it though no one did.

&+&))((&+&

While the Dumbledore reopened the floo system at Hogwarts, a Patronus message was sent to Arthur Weasley at the ministry to immediately come to the school. After everything was explained to the man, he turned to his wife and sons, and threatened to banish them from the family. Molly went nuts and flattened her husband with one blow.

With Molly Weasley stupefied once again, Bones had to deal with an unhappy Augusta Longbottom who'd finally learned of Neville's request for her presence. After berating Dumbledore for allowing someone to enter Hogwarts and assault a student, and threatening his budgets for the next year, she turned on Arthur and Molly Weasley.

"You have nothing worth taking in a lawsuit, and apparently not even honour or good sense. If any of your children touch my grandson or any of his friends in any way – a simple hex or jinx will suffice – and I will bring so much ruin down on you and yours that the dictionaries will use an illustration of you for the words destitute, poor, and gutted."

In front of the entire school, Lady Longbottom thanked Harry Potter for standing up to thieves and she expressed her wish that he come to her home for Yule and Spring Holidays that year. He was invited to visit during the summer holidays as well and Dumbledore had to acknowledge the invitation.

&+&))((&+&

"Now, what shall we do with the Weasleys here at Hogwarts?" asked Delores Umbridge.

"Wait," McGonagall said. "I am partially to blame for this because I didn't shake off the compulsion charms to ignore their misbehaviour. I propose that Charity Burbage be made head of Gryffindor in my place and I will oversee the rehabilitation of George, Fred, and Ronald Weasley. They can move into rooms next to my apartment, and I will work with them every night on their homework and behaviour."

"How long will you keep them there?" asked Delores.

"The whole of this school year!" Minerva answered and brought smiles to many faces while three boys groaned.

"They will have a strict curfew from 7:00PM to 7:00AM. Their library privileges will be closely monitored by Madam Pence. They are not allowed to visit any rooms in the Gryffindor tower and they are banned from Quidditch."

Arthur agreed to everything and though Molly looked ready to protest, she shut up when Arthur once again threatened to divorce her.

At the insistence of Umbridge, Bones, and McGonagall, Molly Weasley was banned from returning to Hogwarts as long as Neville Longbottom or Harry Potter were enrolled at the school. For the assault against Harry Potter, Molly Weasley would be locked up in Azkaban's mildest level for two weeks.

When she protested the offer of two weeks from Director Bones, Amelia explained the alternative was an open trial in front of the Wizengamot where the lords and ladies that ruled Magical Britain were just as likely to send her to Azkaban for life or even order a dementor to give her the kiss.

&+&))((&+&

McGonagall had a house elf bring the belongings of the three Weasley boys to the Great Hall and she cast the spell that summoned everything that had been stolen. Fred and George moaned when a dirty piece of parchment flew across the table to land in Harry Potter's hands. It vanished a moment later while Harry said nothing.

&+&))((&+&

Ignored at the other end of the Gryffindor table, Percival Weasley tried to image a way forward. After this morning, he knew he'd never be selected Head Boy in his seventh year. He began considering taking his NEWTS a year early to get away from his family – he only needed three to qualify for a job at the ministry but who'd hire him for a good job after this debacle?

Among the Gryffindor firsties, Ginny sat with tears streaming down her face – just one week at Hogwarts and everything was already a mess because of her brothers. She'd spend time with her diary tonight and see if 'Tom' had any ideas.

SCENE First Petrification

After resolving the problem with the Weasleys, Hogwarts moved through the first two months smoothly through 31 October, the magical date of Halloween. The feast in the Great Hall was relatively calm with floating pumpkins and visits by all the ghostly residents in the castle. Professor Burbage, the new head of Gryffindor, kept a close eye on her house's table while Minerva stuck her three miscreants to their seats at their separate table at the beginning of each meal.

With the Weasleys under Minerva's thumb, Gryffindor was gaining in the points race with Ravenclaw – Slytherin and Hufflepuff were left in the dust. The Gryffindor quidditch team adjusted to the absence of the Weasley beaters and Harry seemed to have increased his speed in the air. If he saw the snitch, he caught it.

After the feast, everyone returned to their dormitories and the day seemed to have passed without a problem. But the next morning, there were loud exclamations in the Great Hall when the first Ravenclaw students appeared, a group of fifth-year boys, who ran into the Great Hall to report that Deputy Headmistress Umbridge lay petrified outside her apartment door.

Dumbledore hurried toward the hallway, with his wand shutting down the floo once again. But Professor Burgage anticipated this move and she summoned her personal owl and sent a message to Amelia Bones.

It took an hour for Bones to arrive at the school but this time she brought a dozen Aurors and assigned Alastor Moody to 'sit' on Dumbledore. Unfortunately, she was accompanied by Cornelius Fudge who inserted himself into the investigation

"Cornelius, I assure you that Delores is not dead, merely petrified," Dumbledore told the Minister.

"Will she be restored?"

"Certainly, we can grow the necessary ingredients and restore Delores next June."

"That soon?" Fudge complained.

))((

Bones forced Dumbledore to accept a dozen Aurors at the school to investigate the corridors and deserted classroom. The Unspeakables were summoned to investigate but they merely quoted old stories about the Chamber of Secrets and the secrets of Salazar Slytherin. After three weeks with no additional problems, Dumbledore managed to force the Aurors from the castle.

Harry, Neville, and Hermione spent hours discussing the different magical spells, potions, and creatures that could petrify a living witch. Their notes grew to a staggering height but they weren't any closer to having the answer after two weeks of research.

)**&&**(

At the Gryffindor/Ravenclaw Quidditch match in December, Harry was too fast on the broom for Cho Chang to keep up. The Ravenclaw beaters threw the blungers at the Gryffindor seeker again and again but the balls never came anywhere near him – they couldn't seem to find him or catch him. The snitch was collected from the air above the spectator stands just fifteen minutes into the game without a single goal on the score board.

After days of nasty headlines in the Daily Prophet, Hogwarts began to move forward once again. Harry made Neville read a certain book and memorize certain underlined passages. Then he took his friend to the Room of Requirement, introduced him to Snot, and told him a ring that made his relatives treat him indifferently if not well.

There was a small problem that made itself known in December when Harry went to the Room of Requirement to visit with Snot and found the elf crying.

"What's wrong, Snot?" Harry gently asked. "We'll make it right, whatever's wrong."

Snot wiped his tears away and held up the small bag of marbles again. Harry took the bag and looked inside, finding the collection of marbles he'd given to Snot had changed to gold again.

"What tha?" the wizard asked, confused to find gold once again in the bag.

"It's the pretty red stone," Snot explained. "Somehow it turns things into gold."

"Is it real gold? Not that leprosy gold you were telling me about?"

"Leprosy gold?" Snot asked confused and then snorted, "Stupid boy means leprechaun gold!"

Harry grinned and replied, "Got you to stop crying!"

"But Snot liked his marbles that Mr Harry Potter gave him!"

"I'll get you a box of marbles for Christmas and this time we won't keep 'em the same bag as the pretty red stone."

"Gold is very important for Mr Harry Potter!" Snot stated.

"And too much gold would be bad for Mr Harry Potter!" Harry insisted. "I know, let's try something besides marbles."

Being in the Room of Requirement, the boy and elf had their choice of many objects to place inside Snot's bag; they finally settled on three rocks, a lady's hat pin, and a painted figurine of a double decker bus from London.

"Wonder how that got here?" Harry wondered aloud as Snot slipped the items into the bag.

"Want more?" Snot asked and Harry shook his head.

"That's enough. Just check everyday about this time and let's see how soon they turn to gold – or if they'll change. If they won't, we'll try some more marbles."

"Snot not like ruining perfectly good marbles with gold!" the elf muttered and wondered at his terrible sentence structure. He narrowed his eyes and began searching for that bad elf named 'Dobby' – he continually infected Snot with bad grammar.

_))**((_

It was just two days later that Snot came to help Harry and Neville back for the trip to the Longbottom home for the holiday that the elf slipped the golden bus to the boy who lived.

"Everything?" asked Harry.

"Yes, Mr Harry Potter, everything turned to gold after two days."

_))**((_

SCENE Christmas Second Year

At the Longbottom manor house for the holidays, Harry learned a great deal from Lady Longbottom and from her properly trained house elves about ancient and noble families, his probable inheritance, and the facts that his 'guardian' had hidden from him.

The boy was mortified to learn he was supposed to provide some suitable gift to his hostess for inviting him and sighed with relief when Snot provided the golden hat pin wrapped beautifully in a thin box.

Augusta Longbottom was overwhelmed by the gift telling Harry the pin reminded her of one she lost at Hogwarts more than fifty years before. Snot made the connection between the two hat pins but kept the information to himself.

When the boys made inquiries into her years at Hogwarts, Harry asked, "Who was the most knowledgeable among the professors when you attended Hogwarts, Lady Longbottom?"

Her keen mind cataloguing ever piece of information her grandson and his friend revealed with their questions, she responded by asking, "You mean besides Albus Dumbledore?"

"Yes ma'am," Harry replied instantly.

"He should have been retired twenty years or more ago but he's got so much black… information on too many members of the Wizengamot to pitch him out," she muttered while thinking.

Finally, she said, "I imagine it would be Horace Slughorn. He's still alive, but he's also very reclusive which might be the reason he has lived this long."

She narrowed her eyes and asked, "Can you tell me what you're looking for? What piece of information?"

Harry hesitated but Neville moved to stand beside his friend and said, "Gran, Harry's my best friend and he doesn't have any adult that he trusts. You have to swear to keep Harry's secrets before he can tell us anything."

"And do you know some of Harry's secrets?" Augusta asked looking closely her grandson for a moment before suddenly leaning back in her chair and bringing one hand up to hold her head while she called for headache relieving potion from her elves.

After drinking the potion, Augusta looked toward her grandson and his guest to find the boy's elf standing beside him and every Longbottom elf standing beside or behind Neville; even her personal elf who helped her dress and maintained her wardrobe stood with her grandson.

A small smile graced her face as Augusta Longbottom bowed her head to the Longbottom Heir in recognition of his eventual power.

"Two heirs of ancient and noble houses who form a friendship in childhood can change the world when they are grown to manhood," Augusta said. "My place must be to advise you and keep your secrets – all your secrets if you will allow me."

The elf named Janus Thickery Snot stepped forward and bowed to Lady Longbottom and asked, "Who would know about the evils that the Dark Lord committed to keep himself alive?"

"Slughorn might know but he'd wet himself before he told anyone the Dark Lord's muggle name, let alone any ideas about his secrets."

"Muggle name?" whispered Neville.

"I shall send for Alastor Moody. The Auror who was your DADA instructor last year and after we swear him to secrecy, Mr Potter can ask him all the questions for which he can stomach to hear the true answers."

An owl flew away with Augusta's request for an urgent meeting with the battle-scared veteran and after a day's negotiations across the floo for security, they stood back from the floo waiting for him to appear. A moment later, Augusta smirked, "Very smart Alastor! Cheeky but smart!"

"What is it Gran?"

"Moody apparated to just outside our wards, rather than using the floo," she replied. "I sent an elf to escort him inside. We shall meet him at the front door."

The peg legged Auror stomped up the gravel path from the edge of the wards, his wand out casting spells to verify the identity of the formidable witch, Moody looked the two boys over and asked, "What was the first spell you boys asked me to tell you last year?"

"Locking spells to protect our trunks from a thief," replied Neville.

Now Harry asked, "And what was the first spell you told us to use in defence?"

The Auror laughed and replied, "I told you all to run like hell and hide."

"That's him," Harry said.

)**&&**(

Once the four were settled in Augusta's afternoon lounge and tea had been served, though Moody took none of it, Harry said, "Professor Moody, I have a question about Lord Whatshisname."

"Not saying his name?"

"I don't know French."

Moody grinned and said, "So you want to know about Tom Riddle?"

Seeing both boys looking confused, Moody turned to Augusta and asked, "What are they teaching in history at that school?"

"Nothing but goblin wars if I remember correctly."

"Dumbledore thinks no one can know things but him." Moody sighed and told the two boys the true story of Tom Riddle. "The night you banished the Dark Lord, was a miracle."

Harry shook his head and said, "Now that's stupid."

"What? What's stupid?"

"I didn't banish Whatshisname! I was a baby! Dad and Mum did something that banished him! They hit him so hard he's still hurting!"

Looking thoughtful Alastor sat for the first time since entering the house. Augusta signalled an elf and a table with a decanter and glass appeared beside the chair. Pouring himself a finger of the whiskey, Alastor threw it back.

Without coughing as the spirits slid down his throat, Moody said, "My compliments, Augusta. That's the good muggle stuff and not Ogden's Hippogriff piss."

"Language, Moody. We've children present."

)**&&**(

After hearing about Tom Riddle's history, Harry took a deep breath and said, "What spells or things would Whatshisname have done to stay alive? I ask because my elf and I captured part of the Dark Lord's soul."

"What!" shouted both adults as they jumped to their feet.

Snot popped Harry and a Longbottom elf popped Neville out of the house and into one of Neville's greenhouses. The air was warm and humid in the greenhouse that was full of plants growing to be potion ingredients or decoration.

"Wow," Neville said with a grin. "They'll have to calm down for ten minutes or so before they'll listen to anything we want to say."

Harry shrugged. "See why I said I don't trust adults."

Snot and three of the Longbottom elves stood guard in the greenhouse until another elf popped into the room and said, "Mr Neville Longbottom, your grandmother and her guest request you return to the afternoon lounge."

"Will the masters be safe?" Snot asked and the other Longbottom elves leaned close to hear the answer.

"Maisy feeds Missy Augusta and Mr Wooden Leg calming potion and whiskey, and then sticks them both to their chairs. They can't get up and their wands be stuck in their wrist thingies."

"What's a wrist thingy?" Harry asked as they walked back to the house and Neville explained about a wrist holder for the wand.

)**&&**(

"Heir Potter, how did you capture the soul of… Whatshisname?" Moody asked immediately.

"I said we captured part of the soul," Harry replied and arched his eyebrow like he'd seen Neville's grandmother do several times to indicate that there was more to the story than he was willing to share.

"Don't try legilimency, Alastor," Lady Longbottom said. "Both of the boys have formidable protections in their minds. I think they've memorized the Heir Canticle."

"I thought the Lords and Ladies of the Wizengamot got rid of that book?"

"They 'encouraged' everyone to stop using it because lords couldn't read their heirs."

"The soul piece was lodged in the scar on my forehead," Harry explained. "Last year, Snot and I discovered a way to remove it."

"Did any healer look you over?"

"Only Poppy Pomphrey at Hogwarts. She's the only healer I've ever seen – muggle or magical," Harry explained as Augusta growled with anger.

The formidable witch snared as she said, "Pomphrey is not a healer! She's a mediwitch and that means she's a nurse who knows what potions to give people for most accidents and common illnesses. Dumbledore was always a fool and getting worse."

Moody attempted to rise and found himself glued to the seat and with his wand stuck up his wrist.

"Augusta, you've got some damn good elves, but can you ask them to release me? I want to check the boy's scar."

"They're my elves," Neville said with a great deal of cheek. "And they're getting lessons from the bestest elf in the world."

Snot popped into the room and bowed to Neville and to the adults before Harry patted him on the shoulder like a trusted friend.

"Janus Thickery Snot tells Alastor Moody that Mr Harry Potter's scar was a partial possession from Halloween 1981 until 10 June 1992. Then Mr Harry Potter and this elf found a way to pull the soul piece from the scar and lock it up. The soul piece is trapped and cannot get out. Mr Harry Potter will kill Whatshisname when it is time."

Moody frowned and said, "I still want to see…"

"And if you don't like what you see, Snot and Maisy and every other elf will pop you in forty different directions at once and there will not be an Alastor Moody ever again," warned the Potter elf with a most sincere tone in his voice.

The Auror sat back for a moment and then nodded, "You do what you have to do. Now let me loose so I can see if the boy is alright."

Alastor managed to get himself to his feet so to speak and then cast a series of spells that bounced off Harry's fading scar. The Auror smiled.

"If your famous scar was once a horcrux, it certainly isn't now. I see nothing but good magic healing it and making it fade away."

He nodded at Harry and added, "And I imagine you're right Potter. Your mum and dad hurt the Dark Lord so bad he's still in pain – constant pain. He probably doesn't know why and can't think straight."

"Good."

"Moody, what's a horcrux?" asked Augusta.

"An evil piece of magic that idiot dark lords and light lords use when they're afraid of death," Moody explained. "The wizard commits a murder and then completes a ritual that allows them to slice off part of their soul and store it somewhere else."

"When they die, a follower can bring them 'back' after a fashion. It never works though; if it did, we'd still have Pharaohs, Julius Caesar, and Charlemagne fighting each other for control of magic.

"Harry wasn't a horcrux," Neville said. "Snot said it was a partial possession."

Moody nodded slowly and said, "Most likely because Whatshisname had made more… multiple horcruxes and when James and Lily did whatever they did to kill him, the dark wanker's soul split apart again."

"Merlin's undershorts!" Augusta swore. "How many do you think he made?"

"Two or six," Moody responded. "The original piece counts as one so he'll want three or seven total pieces."

"Not five?"

"Five's a powerful number of good magic, not evil magic." Moody paused but then added.

"So, what do we do now?" asked Augusta.

"I start looking for other pieces of the Dark Lord and I'll talk with the Unspeakables. They may already be aware of the situation."

"No," Harry said. "I don't trust anyone at the ministry!"

After careful negotiations, Augusta and Harry agreed that Moody could inform the Unspeakables about the possibility that Tom Riddle made horcruxes in an attempt to obtain immortality, but Moody would wait until the spring equinox to speak to the head unspeakable.

_))**((_

Over the Christmas holidays, two fourth-year Hufflepuff students were petrified in the same manner as Umbridge at Halloween but because it was the holidays and the students were both muggleborn, Dumbledore hushed up the entire affair and left Pomona Sprout in tears with his threat to destroy her reputation if she didn't fall into line with his demands.

_))**((_

SCENE January 1993

After their return to Hogwarts, Snot helped Harry to slip away from the common room and into a magical painting on the during the afternoon after their return. He made his way around the castle, spoke to several different portraits to ask for their help to tell him about anything strange in the halls. Much later in the day, just before curfew as he made his way back to his dorm through various paintings, Harry discovered Ginevra Weasley wandering away from the Gryffindor tower.

Three days later, it was discovered that the magical portraits along one entire wall on the second floor had been scorched by some type of magic and destroyed. The characters inside the portraits were all dead and the magic in the canvas was gone.

++))((++

SCENE February 1993

During the Gryffindor/Hufflepuff match, the two teams played earnestly but fairly and Harry caught the snitch after an hour in the air when the 'puffs were ahead 90 to 50 in goals.

++))((++

To make Snot happy, Harry agreed to wear his invisibility cloak while wandering about in the magical portraits and paintings in the castle. The magical inhabitants couldn't see him and people on the other side of the canvas, in the real world, couldn't see him either. During a night of watching from magical portraits and Harry found Ginny out of the dorm and wandering the halls again.

This time he noticed that she was glassy eyed so he turned around and followed as she walked away from the Gryffindor tower. Finally, he watched her enter a girl's bathroom on the second floor. There weren't any paintings in the bathroom and Harry wasn't about to go in 'there' so he retreated to the dorm.

++))((++

The next morning, Professor Flitwick ran around the castle searching for a missing student. With the help of the house elves it was determined that one of his second years, Marietta Edgecombe, had simply vanished between the library and the Ravenclaw tower. Her books were found near the second floor but there was no sign of the girl.

Miss Edgecombe was a pureblood witch from a minor ministry family; Cornelius Fudge made a big show of bringing Aurors to Hogwarts but nothing was found, nothing changed, and more of the students began to worry though Headmaster Dumbledore assured everyone there was no danger.

Professor Flitwick demanded Auror protection for his students but because he was half-goblin, Dumbledore ignored the professor.

At the staff table for the remainder of the month, Flitwick was heard to mutter several times, "I wish Umbridge was here! You wouldn't ignore the disappearance of a girl if Delores was screaming bloody murder!"

Thereafter, Ravenclaws travelled together – to meals, to the library, and to the classrooms. Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, and even Slytherin adopted the practice of travelling in packs.

++))((++

Professor Lockhart began telling everyone of his students that he was going to find Miss Edgecombe and bring her back to Hogwarts. In his defence class, he encouraged everyone to imagine what had happened to the missing girl and he collected the ideas. One afternoon he asked Hermione to proof a manuscript for him – her grammar and sentence composition were always perfect – and she collapsed in tears when only half-way through the papers.

Harry and Neville helped get Hermione to Professor Burbage's office where their head of house briefly looked at the manuscript for 'Disappearing Teenage Witches' before summoning an elf with a calming potion for Hermione and then leaving them to make their way back to the dorm while she sought out Professor Lockhart.

Professor Lockhart was absent for two days as he spent time in the infirmary and even after, he refused to include the second year Gryffindors in his DADA class. He also stopped all work on his new book.

With help from a certain smart elf, the students used last year's DADA manual and made substantial progress on shields, and piercing spells.

++))((++

SCENE March 1993

During the Slytherin/Gryffindor Quidditch match, the Slytherin beaters tried to collide with Potter but they couldn't get close enough to touch him or his broomstick. The judges kept calling fouls on the Slytherin beaters and stopping the game to yell at the Slytherin captain and the beaters. As a consequence, the Gryffindor chasers were able to reset their positions after every play and score goal after goal while Slytherin floundered to get a few goals.

The Gryffindors were ahead 180 to 60 in goals while Potter remained untouched in the sky. Frustrated that Potter was going to beat him again, Draco Malfoy drew his wand to try and blast Potter from the sky while on broomstick but when he cast his spell, it didn't go anywhere near the boy-who-lived but slammed into the stands where many Slytherin students were seated. The seats collapsed and a large number of students were injured. Again, there was a delay in the game as ten students had to be transported to the infirmary and three of them sent on to St. Mungo's. His ears blistered by the comments of the judge, the team captain, and his head of house, Draco returned to the sky to sulk.

With the game started again, Harry imagined he was above the magical castle in the Alps again with Fawkes at his side. This let him 'see' the trail left by the little golden ball that appeared to be following Draco Malfoy around the pitch.

Grinning, Harry dived through the air, flashing passed Draco and leaving the blonde-headed boy spinning helpless and gripping his broomstick to keep from falling, while Harry circled the pitch holding up the Golden Snitch for everyone to see.

**))((**

Cornelius Fudge proved to be worthless once again; the Slytherin students had been injured by another Slytherin student who cheated while playing Quidditch. Obviously Albus Dumbledore had lost control of his school – the minister announced that the mysterious disappearance of one student and the petrification of a faculty member meant Dumbledore wasn't watching the school closely enough.

The Board of Governors (under pressure from Fudge), suspended Dumbledore and ordered him from the building. In a moment of true idiocy, Professor Gilderoy Lockhart pushed himself forward as the perfect candidate to act as 'headmaster' until the end of the school year.

There followed a week of front-page articles in the Daily Prophet about Lockhart's plans to remodel the headmaster's office, establish a firm dress code, and provide more of his magical portraits to hang on the walls.

**))((**

Harry was convinced something was wrong with Ginny Weasley but he wasn't certain what to do. Professor Burbage told him she appreciated his concern and she'd talk to the girl but the professor sternly reminded him that given the situation between their families, Harry should stay away from her.

He wouldn't go to McGonagall who still seemed to blame Harry for the Weasleys being thieves. The idea of going to Whiskers for anything made Harry angry – he and Hermione were less than best friends now because she still believed that the headmaster could do no wrong.

That night, covered by his cloak and hiding in the corner of the painting outside the second-floor girl's loo, Harry watched Ginny Weasley approach the bathroom about an hour before curfew. When she stepped inside the door remained propped open, and he heard her say "Open" with a strange hiss in her voice.

From the painting, Harry watched as a sink in the bathroom slid apart and the girl stepped off into a black hole without hesitating. He stepped closer to the side of the painting, watching and waiting. After what seemed an eternity, Harry watched as the girl rose from the dark hole on the head of a giant snake.

She hissed to the snake saying, "Hunt through the halls. Kill the mudbloods!"

The girl followed at a slower pace, seeming to hesitate at the door to the bathroom as though she could feel the Harry's eyes on her. The young wizard found that he couldn't move until long after she'd followed the snake. Scared but still not willing to go to any adult in the castle, Harry returned to the far corner of the painting and sat watching. When the girl and snake returned much later, Harry watched Ginny send the snake back into the hole, and hiss, "Close".

When the sink closed, Harry watched as she walked back toward the dorm with a black book in her hands.

Once she was gone, Harry jumped to a painting in the Room of Requirement, pulled off the cloak, and cast the charm to exit the canvas three times before he could get out. Dropping to his knees, Harry yelled, "Snot, I need you!"

The elf popped into the Room of Requirement, took one look at Harry, popped out and back with a calming draught. Once his wizard had consumed the potion and began to breath normally again, Snot stared at Harry and said, "Let Snot see what scared you, Mr Harry Potter."

Gently sharing the memory with Harry, Snot grew stiff with fear. Once the memory was finished, the elf summoned an elven calming draught and sat on the floor beside his wizard.

"That's a basilisk," Snot explained. "I never expected to see an image of a living basilisk…"

"Why was the girl hiss?" asked Snot.

"Hissing? No, she didn't hiss… well not much," Harry replied. "Ginny spoke English. She told the sink to 'open' and it opened. Then she told the snake to hunt through the halls and kill the mudbloods…"

Blinking slowly three times before moving, Snot grabbed Harry's hand and said, "Promise Snot you will stay here until I return!"

"What?"

"Promise you will stay here!" Snot begged with fear in his voice.

"Okay, I promise to stay here but just until morning!" Harry declared.

With that, Harry watched Snot pop away. The elf was only gone for twenty minutes and when he returned, Snot took Harry back to the Gryffindor tower and directly into the bathroom where he surprised Neville in the shower.

When Harry slipped out of the bathroom, Seamus snickered and Dean ignored him. Quickly undressing Harry slipped into his bed to toss and turn for several hours.

At breakfast, the Gryffindors learned that four Slytherin students had been killed the night before; Draco Malfoy, Patsy Parkinson, Gregory Goyle, and Marcus Flint. Flint was a seventh-year prefect assigned to escort the second years back to their dorm from the library.

Adults ran into the school throughout the entire day to see their children and several students were withdrawn and taken home by their parents. No one could find Professor Lockhart anywhere though late in the day, Lockhart's wand, one shoe and a wig were found around the corner from where the Slytherin students had died.

At lunch, Albus Dumbledore returned and resumed control of Hogwarts.

(Note the student who disappeared earlier and Professor Lockhart are eaten by the basilisk.)

_))**((_

SCENE Dealing with Fear

Once again, Hogwarts tried to move ahead but students remained scared and the staff were equally nervous.

The next three days were nerve-wracking for staff and students alike, and though there was no official mention of closing Hogwarts, the school was full of such rumours.

Neville assured Harry that he could go home with him; "We'll just not tell the headmaster and once you're behind Longbottom wards, he'll never be able to find you."

But Harry was nervous as he waited for a time and place to call Snot. Hermione was too frightened to step outside the common room; Professor Burbage moved into the dorm with the girls and called for the house elves to bring them food in their individual rooms or the common room. On their way to dinner, Neville questioned Harry as the boys walked to the Great Hall under heavy Auror guard.

"What's the deal?" Longbottom asked his friend. "You're more nervous than a kneazle in a room full of hungry snapping cabbages."

"The other night, I saw… I think I saw what killed them… It didn't see me, but…"

"Have you told anyone?"

"Neville, you're the only person here that I trust. I tried to talk to Burbage and she blew me off. Somehow it'd get turned into my fault if I told anyone and you know Dumbledore would make things worse…"

Neville nodded, pleased to hear that Harry trusted him, but sorry to have to agree that none of the adults were trustworthy. Before they reached the Great Hall, Neville motioned toward a corner of an intersecting hallways where Snot stood nervously waiting.

"What… He needs me for something important," Harry said.

Neville whispered, "Go the loo and call him. I'll cover for you as long as I can."

"Thanks, Nev."

"I want the whole story later," Longbottom insisted.

When they reached the Great Hall for lunch, Harry walked away to use the loo. Once behind the closed door, the boy called his elf.

"Snot," he whispered and the elf appeared, grabbed Harry and popped back out without making any noise.

SCENE Wizards be Crazy

The pair appeared inside the girl's bathroom on the second floor while several inches of water ran across the floor and out into the hallway.

Snot pointed to the water and explained, "Miss Weasley came in here this afternoon and began screaming and crying. Myrtle came out of her toilet and objected. Then the ghost and witch shouted at each other before Weasley threw her black book at the ghost and ran away. When the book hits her, the ghost screams and jumps into her toilet and it floods the room!"

The elf continued, "Snot thinks Weasley girl believes her family will be blamed for the dead Slytherins. All Weasleys would be locked away in Azkaban if Fudge is in a bad mood."

Looking around the bathroom, Harry grabbed the book but staggered when he felt the evil that resided just under the leather cover.

"Snot! Help!" Harry managed to say, "This book… it's something bad."

Snot pried the book from Harry's hands and threw it back on the floor. Leaning forward, Snot smelled the air above the book, waved his hands a few times, and then frowned.

"Snot thinks Dobby's master is not just bad, but he is also evil to give this soul jar to a child!"

"What do we do with this book? It's evil," Harry insisted and wished fervently again that there were adults in his life that he could trust.

"We must hide it until we have a plan," Snot said.

"Where?" asked Harry. "I don't want to put it into the painting with Pettigrew or with the soul jar from my…"

Looking up with horror dawning on his face, Harry asked, "Do you think this is another piece of Dark Whatshisname?"

Snot frowned but nodded. "Dobby's master did serve the Dark Lord your father and mother defeated. This could be another piece of his soul."

"Why would anyone do this?"

Snot shrugged, "Wizards be crazy."

"We have to hide this someplace safe," Harry said. "I think we need another painting that no one else can get into."

)**&&**(

SCENE Breaking Ginny's Compulsion

She'd been desperate to get rid of the book – it lied to her again and again. Now more students were dead and she remembered seeing the 'snake' eat Lockhart – he'd screamed once but the snake swallowed him in one giant gulp.

Throwing the book away had been hard and now, just a couple hours later, Ginny Weasley felt compelled to return to the bathroom and retrieve 'her' book. She tried to slip out of the door in the Common Room, but the prefects refused to let her leave the dorm by herself and the girl sobbed when she felt the book calling to her.

Suddenly, it was if the book was gone, removed from Hogwarts and she was free. Exhausted, Ginny made her way back to her room, stumbled into bed, and fell into a dreamless sleep for the first time since finding that book after shopping in August.

)**&&**(

SCENE Hiding the Horcrux

After summoning a box from the Room of Requirement, Snot opened the box and coaxed Harry into levitating the evil item into the wooden container. Slamming the lid down on the container, Snot grabbed it and his wizard before popping them to the hallway beside the tapestry of the dancing trolls.

"Mr Harry Potter must learn to summon the room he needs from the Room of Requirements," Snot said firmly. "Think about the room where we lefts the portraits of Peter and the smoky evil behind the chamber pots. Walk back and forth three times, thinking about that room. Then the door to that 'room' will appear."

Trusting Snot, Harry did as directed and a door appeared. After he opened the door, Harry held it for Snot to enter the room with the box floating behind him. Checking that no one was watching, Harry closed the door and it vanished from the wall.

In the corner of the giant room, where Snot piled up discarded paintings, the elf selected another magical still life, one of a potion's laboratory at Hogwarts. On this canvas, the artist had painted a large table that stretched across the canvas with a few cold cauldrons and empty potion bottles in different colours. Perhaps the apprentice artist meant to add a person later but decided the canvas wasn't good enough and started over.

Together, Snot and Harry cast the elven charm to push the diary into the painting.

"Put it with the other two paintings," Harry told Snot before he noticed the elf staring toward a nearby set of shelves.

"What's got your attention?" the young wizard asked.

The elf pointed toward a bust of a woman's head and then Harry realized the elf was actually pointing at something made of shiny metal and jewels sitting on top of the bust.

"It stinks like the book!" Snot insisted.

Frowning again at the stupidity of wizards, Harry summoned what he thought was just a 'fancy hair clip', and without touching it, pushed it into the same painting as the book.

"Snot, Neville and I'll write letters to Moody and Augusta tomorrow. Will you take them for me?"

"Yes, Mr Harry Potters. Let's put this canvas with the other paintings and then get you to the Great Hall."

That night, three pieces of the Dark Lord Voldemort's soul and one of his servants, Peter Pettigrew began spending their time together, safely locked inside magical paintings and hidden behind discarded chamber pots in the Room of Requirement.

_)))(((_

SCENE Unspeakable Solution

Snot carried Harry back to the Great Hall and the boy-who-lived was dropped into an empty stall in the loo. He quickly washed his hands and made his way to a seat beside Neville who had delayed his dessert as long as possible. Across all four tables, the students were subdued, the adults were nervous and sniped at each other, and the Aurors stood guard at the door with wands drawn.

)**&&**(

Neville helped Harry to write the letter to Lady Longbottom telling her that they believed the most magical number was 'seven'. The letter to Moody mentioned 'seven' and that Harry would share more information during the summer but only with Moody and only at the Longbottom manor.

Finally, the Unspeakables descended upon the school and searched every hall. Panicking for a moment with the arrival of the Unspeakable wizards from the ministry, Neville and Harry hid in the Room of Requirement until assured by Snot that the wizards were not looking for the two boys.

Eventually one of the Unspeakables found a trail of scales that led them back to the girl's bathroom on the second floor. The ghost, a girl named Myrtle Hall who died in the forties, confirmed that a giant snake had risen from the sink and slithered off through the school on several nights.

"And who directed this giant snake to roam the halls?"

Myrtle didn't like the way this wizard was questioning her so she jumped through him and made him squeal like a little girl. Happy to have scared someone new, the ghost plunged back into her toilet and refused to speak to anyone else for a month.

Using powerful and unknown spells, the Unspeakables sealed the sink with conjured blocks of granite that fit together in a puzzle to fill up the bathroom and make it impossible for anyone to enter the room or for the giant snake to leave the bathroom ever again.

)**&&**(

Just before the end of the school year, the Daily Prophet announced the death of Lucius Malfoy, father of Draco Malfoy. The paper went into great detail describing the wizard's terrible wounds and that he'd been most certainly alive when he was mutilated.

That same afternoon, Snot came to Harry and informed him that the elf Dobby had been freed by Narcissa Malfoy.

"She gave Dobby clothes," Snot said. "He'll die without a new family."

Harry sighed and called for Dobby and took the little fellow as another house elf in his family.

)**&&**(

SCENE End of Second Year

Harry's second year at Hogwarts finally came to an end. Many students were scared and couldn't believe the castle was safe again. Hermione remained jumpy in dark places, and she and the other girls stayed close to Harry, Neville, Dean, and Seamus when the first year Gryffindors walked between classes. The second and first years in all houses stayed together.

Percy Weasley proved himself time and again escorting the younger students from the library back to the dorm.

None of the students at Hogwarts performed as expected on exams after the way the school year went, and when Deputy Headmistress Umbridge and the two muggleborns from Hufflepuff were de-petrified just two days before the end of the school term, everyone was surprized when the witch spent most of those two days screeching at Dumbledore or begging Fudge through the floo to take her back to the Ministry. Her voice and complaints were the last impression of a terrible second year at Hogwarts for Harry Potter.

Apparently, Delores remembered the months she spent alone and in the dark of a spare closet in the infirmary. Fudge refused to let her come back for another year – she'd be allowed back at the ministry after a second year at Hogwarts.

)**&&**(

Professor Sprout spent every moment with her two girls from Hufflepuff and planned to spend the entire summer with them providing tutoring to cover everything they'd missed in six months of school.

)**&&**(

Despite Minerva's efforts, Ron failed every exam for the second year. Fred and George passed all their exams and were informed they'd be allowed to return for their fifth year. Ginny passed her classes but as soon as she reached her home, she informed her parents that she'd never go back to Hogwarts again.

When their five youngest returned to the Burrow, Arthur announced that Molly would begin home-schooling Ron and Ginny that summer while Percy, Fred, and George would return to Hogwarts; Percy planned to take his NEWTS a year early, and the twins must achieve outstanding results in some of their OWLS to be allowed to continue.

)**&&**(


	3. Chapter 3

The Magical Portrait Charm

This Harry Potter story was written for fun. All rights belong to the wonderful lady (JK Rowling) who gave the world Harry Potter to read and enjoy.

Story Line: During the summer, Harry adopts a large, black dog. His third year at Hogwarts begins with tragedy but then improves. Harry has a Happy Christmas and quiet winter. But spring brings another betrayal.

One more time, the elf's name is intentional.

Chapter 3: Third Year

)**&&**(

SCENE A Sirius Summer

All around Little Whinging, the flowers bloomed profusely and filled the air with perfume. Even residents who were on vacation, came home to find heavy blooms and perfectly manicured lawns. Most the people living along Privet Drive remembered their perfect gardens from the previous year and didn't worry. At No.4, Vernon and Petunia Dursley grew uncomfortable with the 'natural' beauty because they feared it wasn't all natural.

Seeing his aunt and uncle distressed, Harry fed them a supper that included calming potions before he removed the 'don't pay attention to me ring' and assured them that everything is fine.

"Harry, how can you do this magic that's making the yards so perfect?" Petunia asked as Vernon struggled with his conflicting emotions – he remembered his fear of the freak's powers as well as the happiness from last summer.

"I can't do any magic during the summer," Harry assured his aunt. "But I have magical servants now who love to work. One of the little fellows made your garden and yard perfect in one hour after we returned home. To make him happy and keep him busy, he does every yard on Privet Drive and the streets around us."

"What kind of creature is this? A monster?" demanded Vernon.

Shaking his head that anyone would characterize his house elves as monsters, Harry summoned Snot and Dobby to appear so that he could introduce them to his aunt and uncle. Seeing two 'creatures' instantly materialize in their kitchen; Vernon began to hyperventilate though Petunia handled the introductions better.

"Will they harm Dudley or us?" she asked.

"No," Harry said. "They can't harm you unless you tried to hurt me."

"Will any of the big freaks see them and come here?"

"No, none of the wizards at the ministry can see my elves." Harry smiled and said, "They make certain no one bothers us."

Glancing at her husband she asked, "Can you help him? I'm afraid he'll aggravate his heart condition."

Snot put Vernon to sleep and then stepped closer, "I believe Mr Dursley could benefit from a few muggle-friendly potions to reduce his weight, clear his arteries, and lower his blood pressure."

"Can you do that?" Petunia asked.

The taller elf nodded. "I can purchase the potions in the alley and bring them here every day. Mrs Dursley's husband will be much healthier in ten days."

"How much will it cost?" Petunia asked.

"You're my aunt," Harry said. "My elf can use my money to get the potions."

"Thank you, Harry," Petunia said and when her nephew once again put on some magic ring, she forgot he was there most of the time and made certain Vernon took the three potions that appeared beside his plate each morning.

Dudley took one potion each morning and one appeared beside Petunia's breakfast as well. The entire family's weight improved, their meals were delicious, and the neighbourhood resembled something from a gardening magazine.

_)**(_

The teacher in the school painting and Snot both encouraged (required) Harry to spend part of each day outside in the sunshine and real world. Dobby and Snot put their heads together and purchased a bicycle for Harry as an early birthday present the first week of July.

With cushioning and avoidance charms, a standard muggle helmet, and some determination on Harry's part, he was flying around the neighbourhood with a smile on his almost thirteen-year-old face. Neville visited regularly and with some encouragement found he enjoyed the bicycle much more than the broomsticks at Hogwarts. Snot conjured a second bicycle and helmet for the boy's weekly visits until Harry purchased one as a birthday gift for Neville. When Harry visited Neville, the bike went with him and the two boys spent hours in the sun, flying along trails in the muggle parks or paths around the Longbottom estate.

One afternoon, while biking alone, Harry found a large black dog running along beside his bike. When he stopped to eat lunch, the friendly dog begged for scraps so effectively that Harry called Snot for a second entire meal for the dog.

Dobby delivered the meal because Snot was busy with supper, popped back to No.4 for only a moment to report that Mr Harry Potter met his dogfather will riding his bike, and then returned to his frenzied gardening.

Distracted by a fancy pot roast for almost ten minutes, Snot finally realized what Dobby said, froze and then popped away to find his wizard.

The elf found Harry racing down a deserted street with the black dog in pursuit but the 'screams' from his wizard, were actually happiness and joy from flying on the ground.

Seeing Snot in his old man disguise along the side of the street, Harry slammed on the brakes, spun around with gravel flying through the air and the dog tumbling across a lawn for a moment. Then the dog trotted over and sat down beside the boy.

"Snot! I gotta call Fawkes and tell her. When I ride a bike on the 'earth' I can feel the magic just like when she flies with me around the castle," Harry exclaimed.

"Dog! You can't fool me!" Snot shouted, his hands moving to capture the large dog with elven magic.

"Snot? What's wrong with the dog?" Harry asked. "Don't hurt him!"

"He's not a dog, Mr Harry Potter."

The elf waved at the dog that lay, whining while wrapped in magical ropes, "That is a wizard in his animagus form. That is Sirius Black, the man who supposedly betrayed your parents to Dark Lord Whatshisname."

"Who?" Harry asked as he walked over to the dog and leaned over to pet his head, making the dog whimper.

"It's a long story," Snot said.

"Then let's go back to Privet Drive and hear it."

Snot prepared to pop them all back but Harry said, "Turn him loose. He'll follow me home and we can talk then."

"But…"

"Go on back and get the Dursleys to go out for supper and a movie," Harry ordered his elf. "Let Petunia find a couple hundred pounds in her pocket or her purse."

"Mr Harry…"

"Snot, go!" Harry insisted. The elf popped away before the boy-who-lived turned to the watching dog.

"Come on, let's go to the house and get you a bath so you won't stink up the house tonight. Course that might make Snot and Dobby happy if they have to clean the house fifty times to get rid of the smell!"

_)**(_

When the two reached Privet Drive, Harry led the dog to the back yard where a large tub of perfectly heated water with bubbles waited for the dog who leaped into the tub and splashed the two elves and boy with soapy water.

Wiping soap suds from his face, Harry thought the dog was laughing as he rolled around in the tub. Then Snot and Dobby grabbed brushes and attacked the matted and filthy hair, making the dog howl with distress but once he was inside the tub, Snot's magic kept him there.

Finally, clean after twenty minutes of scrubbing, Snot allowed the dog to leave the tub but Dobby froze him once he hit the ground to rinse the soap and dirt away. Handing Harry a large, magical towel that would absorb the water from the dog's thick hair, Dobby stayed to watch the dog while Snot completed the supper and made certain the Dursleys were happy to leave for the evening.

_)**(_

SCENE Sirius Recovers Inside Painting

Sitting in the back yard where Snot served Harry's supper and fed the dog amazing amounts of food, the boy-who-lived relaxed though he recognized that Snot and to some degree Dobby were nervous. The ravenous dog didn't pay attention to the elves and once he had finished his supper, he came over and sat down next to Harry's chair and leaned against it.

Harry's left hand began moving down the dog's back and then scratching its head. He signed and said, "So, Snot and Dobby say you're a wizard who's turned into a dog."

The large black dog lay his head in Harry's lap and whined softly.

"I think you're scared or hiding so you stay a dog as long as you want."

The dog's tail started thumping loudly and Harry grinned.

"But we have rules that we have to follow," the boy said as the dog pulled away and coughed.

"No, even the dog follows the rules."

"Mr Harry Potter, I think we should find a good play ground for the dog. Somewhere there's rabbits to chase or butterflies to eat…"

"Eat butterflies?" asked Harry. "Who eat butterflies?"

"House elves love the taste of butterflies!" Dobby said from the other side of the dog who whipped around in surprize while Snot petrified him.

"Guys!"

Snot pulled out a nice magical painting of a landscape with a farm yard, with woods in the distance, and showed it to Harry.

"Animagus can spend his days and nights here while Mr Harry Potter flies or takes lessons or rides bicycles with Mr Neville. Every day you can go into portrait to visit him and bring him out when he is better."

"Better?"

The elf nodded and explained, "Sirius Black was imprisoned for last twelve years in Azkaban…"

Snot's description of the terrible conditions in the prison with the exposure to the dementors, left Harry sitting on the ground holding the dog.

"We can feed him potions to make him better but it will take at least six months. And when he is ready, he can transform back into Sirius Black to explain himself to you."

"So maybe at Christmas," Harry said.

"And remember, you can go into the painting and visit with him every day," Snot said to remind his wizard that he wasn't going to abandon the dog.

"Can you put the painting in my room and fix it so the Dursleys don't see it?"

"Yes."

Harry made Snot release the dog and when he explained the plan to the dog, it lowered his head until Harry said, "Please try this. If it doesn't work, we'll try something else next year. But you'll be safe and well fed with fun stuff to do like chasing rabbits and birds."

The dog leaned into the boy again but then stepped toward the portrait willingly. Harry went with the dog into the portrait that Snot then moved to Harry's room at No.4. The boy and dog ran around the farm and found sheep, hogs and chickens for the dog to chase. And there were rabbits in the nearby garden, and birds in the grass.

Late in the evening, Snot called Harry to return to Privet Drive for bed, so Harry hugged the dog and hurried to the exit his elf created in the magical canvas. The dog settled down for a nap, content and somewhere inside, he realized that his pup was safe.

_)**(_

SCENE News from Neville

Neville realized that Harry had secrets that he couldn't share with his best friend and the next time they got together to ride bikes around Little Whining, Harry avoided inviting him up to his room. Unfazed by Harry avoiding his room, and because Dudley had friends over that same day, Harry and Neville immediately took their bicycles out on the sidewalks, streets and paths around the village.

"Won't be long until we're back at Hogwarts," Neville said.

"I hope it's better than last year!"

"Gran demanded a place on the Board of Governors and she's made Dumbles jump around all summer to make certain there's nothing going on."

"And the snake?"

"Months now without a sign of it so the Unspeakables claim their puzzle blocks sealed the doorway."

"Weasleys?" asked Harry.

"Only Percy, Fred and George coming back. The red menace and his sister are both staying home to be tutored by their monster-mother this year," Neville said with some satisfaction to have seen the last of Ron Weasley at the dinner table.

"That's funny… 'monster-mother'," Harry joked. But then he turned serious and asked, "Any idea if Moody's coming back for defence class?"

"No, Gran says Dumbles picked someone already and he wasn't willing to invite Auror Moody back for a second time," Neville explained.

"It better not be another idiot like Goldilocks!" Harry said.

The two thirteen-year-olds flew down the street, chasing each other on bicycles for another twenty minutes. After that race, they stopped in the park to eat lunch – Petunia was at home and she was more comfortable if Harry and his 'freakish' friend weren't at the table for lunch while Dudley and some of his friends were there. Snot and Dobby provided a feast for the teenagers at No.4 and a second one for a picnic table in the park for Harry and Neville.

While they ate, Neville asked, "Have you seen the Daily Prophet?"

"Nope," Harry replied. "I got too much to do that's fun to waste a minute reading their lies."

"I agree but Gran made me look at a couple articles this week. There was a wizard who escaped from Azkaban; that's the…"

"…prison for wizards," Harry finished the sentence. "Snot told me about it and about the guy who escaped."

"Have there been any madmen running around Surrey this summer?" Neville asked in an attempt to joke but he noticed Harry's face grew tight.

Rather than pressing Harry, Neville pointed toward their bikes and said, "Of course he'd never be able to catch you on that broomstick on the ground!"

"He's my godfather," Harry replied. "Snot and Dobby looked into it when the paper came out and they told me that Sirius Black is my godfather."

Neville shut up for a minute but then said, "There's something else."

Harry looked up from the banana he was eating a dessert and motioned for Neville to tell him the news.

"The minister has decided to order Dementors around Hogwarts to protect us from Sirius Black."

Feeling Harry's sudden concern, Snot popped into the park and transformed into his old man disguise before any muggles saw him, sat at the picnic table, and demanded Neville repeat the news with as much detail as possible.

Harry and Neville were surprised to learn that Snot cursed better than the Gryffindor seventh-year prefect who caught his girlfriend in a broom closet with a rival seventh-year boy from another house. (That fight that left one hallway in Hogwarts scorched for three days last year.)

"Does Lady Longbottom scream at the minister?" asked Snot.

"She's been at the ministry every day for the last week trying to get enough support to force Fudge to withdraw the Dementors."

"Exactly what are Dementors?" asked Harry.

"A creature made by a dark wizard in Scotland about five hundred years ago," Snot explained. "There are about one hundred and fifty of them and the wizards got control of them when the dark wizard was killed in a duel. They made the Dementors go to Azkaban island and built the prison there. Dementors float around inside the prison and suck out the good memories from the prisoners."

Harry turned pale remembering Snot's description of what was wrong with Sirius – his godfather was slowly recovering by remembering good memories one by one.

"Will there be Aurors at Hogwarts to protect us?"

Neville shook his head and said, "Apparently Dumbledore thinks the castle's wards will keep the Dementors away."

Snorting in disgust, Harry observed, "Seems like the same wards keep out a mass murderer?"

"Wizards be stupid!" Snot said while Harry and Neville nodded.

))*^*((

While they cleaned up the picnic area and put the plates and utensils back into the hamper that Dobby delivered earlier, Harry asked, "Want to go shopping with Hermione? She's written a couple times since getting back from wherever she went on vacation and wants to meet at the Leaky Cauldron on Saturday to go shopping. Her parents can get off work to bring her into town."

Neville shrugged and said, "Sure, if you want. I heard from Susan and Hannah. They'll be there on Saturday too. I think it's the designated day for everyone in third year to go shopping."

"There's a day we're supposed to go shopping?" Harry asked confused.

Closing the hamper and watching it disappear as quietly as it had appeared, Neville snickered and said, "Potter, you're too easy to trick!"

He took off running for the bicycles with Harry close behind promising to catch Neville. The two friends laughed and enjoyed the summer afternoon.

))*^*((

SCENE Gold and Doing What's Right

Later that day, just before Harry went into the painting to visit the dog he'd named 'Whitefang' to the dog's delight and Snot's chagrin, the elf stopped Harry and asked for a moment of his time.

"What's up Snot?"

"I want to make some gold to exchange for pounds with the goblins for a gift for the Dursleys and…"

"And?"

"Snot thinks we need some gold to start bribing wizards to support Lady Longbottom against Minister Fudge and Dumbles."

"Bribes?" asked Harry. "You want to start bribing people?"

"Snot can deliver bag of gold to members to pay 'em to vote for Lady Longbottom when she pushes to get Dementors moved."

Harry frowned and shook his head, "I hate this. We'd be paying people to do what is right in the first place."

"Yes, Mr Harry Potter but it will be very dangerous for you and your friends at Hogwarts with Dementors floating around."

"Why should this year be any different than the first two years?" Harry fussed.

He frowned but then nodded and said, "Make the gold but let me talk with Lady Longbottom before you give any to anyone. And keep a good record of who you pay off."

After another moment, Harry gave his elf another order, "And Snot, start planning something else."

"Yes, Mr Harry Potter?"

"We are leaving Britain when I turn seventeen. I won't live in this madhouse," Harry swore. "I don't know why my Dad and Mum stayed here anyway."

_))**((_

Playing fetch with Whitefang that evening, Harry relaxed and laughed watching the giant black dog run through the flock of chickens as he chased a red rubber ball. The dog enjoyed the chaos he created among the poultry, pigs, and sheep that inhabited the painting with him.

When they stopped to rest underneath some pear trees that were heavy with fruit, Harry and Whitefang sat close together, the boy scratching the dog's ears while the dog's tongue hung out as though he were laughing and happy.

"Whitefang, I need some advice," Harry confessed. The dog rose into a seated position with the tongue mostly back inside his head and his eyes bright with interest.

"When I turn seventeen and can get free from Dumbleshit, I want to leave Britain and go live somewhere else – America, or Australia, or Canada, or New Zealand. The people here are crazy!"

The dog leaned in and chuffed as if to support and agree with his boy.

"Snot asked my permission to make a bunch of gold to bribe people to do something that they should do anyway. I hate that we have to pay people to do something that's right…"

"Do you know why my dad and mum stayed here? Why didn't they leave and start over somewhere without nut jobs running the government?"

The dog didn't have any answers but the wizard inside did begin thinking about why they'd all stayed in Britain after graduating from Hogwarts.

'_Why did we stay? We had money and means to get out? We didn't like anyone outside our group…'_

))&&((

SCENE Shopping with Hermione

To expose Neville to more of the muggle world, Harry convinced him to pop over to Privet Drive and then ride into London with him on the train. Vernon dropped the two boys off at the small train station in Little Whining on his way to work, and Harry purchased tickets that let them ride into another, larger station where they changed trains that then took them into London. Neville was confused about 'changing' for three or four minutes, expecting some wizard to cast a spell that 'changed' the train. Before they exited the train station, they both dug into their backpacks to find caps to hide Harry's scar and identity more than Neville's but to make them look similar.

The number of 'people' on the train and in the tube was almost overwhelming to both boys but the adventure of using maps to find the tube line they needed to get close to the Leaky Cauldron proved to be another adventure. They ran down the street from the tube station to the Leaky Cauldron, bursting into the tavern boisterously. The proprietor grinned at the two young wizards who made their way to the hidden entrance to Diagon Alley and used a wand to tap the bricks and open the doorway.

Harry and Neville waited just outside Fortescue's for the Grangers to arrive. While they waited, each boy opened their backpacks again and pulled out an outer robe to fit over their muggle jeans and shirts so they wouldn't offend wizarding sensibilities by going completely 'muggle' while in Diagon Alley.

Hermione, her mother and father came through the doorway from the Leaky Cauldron about ten minutes later, and Harry, Neville, and Hermione waited just outside Gringotts while Mr Granger headed into the bank.

"Who let you into the alley?" Hermione asked immediately rather than greeting the two boys.

"Hello Hermione. I used my wand," Harry explained to which Hermione responded with a lecture on underage magic!

"But we're in Diagon Alley," Harry rebutted his friend's argument.

"And Harry didn't do any magic," Neville said quickly. "He just tapped the bricks – like everyone else."

Even though this answer didn't please Hermione, she stopped her lecture but she didn't introduce her mother. Harry remembered his lessons with Snot and stepped forward to half bow to Mrs Granger and introduce himself as 'Heir Harry James Potter of the Ancient and Noble House of Potter' and then introduced his friend as 'Heir Neville Francis Longbottom of the Ancient and Noble House of Longbottom'. Neville made the same half bow to Mrs Granger.

Hermione wanted to make some comment about their titles and the bows, but her mother jumped into the introductions with the information that she was 'Dr Jane Stewart Granger, DDS' and her husband was 'Dr Daniel Hollowell Granger, DDS'.

"We're very pleased to meet you Dr Granger," Neville said formally. "Miss Granger speaks very highly of her parents."

"My husband will be back momentarily," Mrs Granger said. "He just needed to exchange some pounds for galleons."

Suppressing the urge to volunteer to exchange Mr Granger's pounds for galleons for free, Harry asked Hermione about her vacation that summer while she kept asking about his homework.

"Aren't you interested in Neville's homework?" Harry asked suddenly.

"Harry, you know you need help with yours," Hermione said. "Your relatives lock away your trunk and books as soon as you get home and don't let you work on your assignments at all!"

"What? Why do you think that?" asked Harry.

"And that's why you're struggling to keep up in our classes at Hogwarts."

Neville caught Harry's eye and the boy-who-lived simply shrugged as Hermione continued talking about Harry's poor performance in school. When Mr Granger re-joined the group, Hermione suggested they head to Madam Mankins for new robes.

"I've got my robes already," Harry said and looked at Neville who nodded.

"My grandmother and I took care of robes last week."

"Then we'll go for robes without the boys," Mrs Granger said. "They wouldn't enjoy sitting there while we look at robes for an hour or more."

"Can I escape with the boys?" asked Mr Granger who grinned at the looks from his wife and daughter.

"Harry, you're not going to make a fuss about robes this year, are you?" Hermione asked. "Every year, you make a big deal about fashion and cause problems with everyone trying to match your robes."

"Are you a trend setter, Mr Potter?" asked Mrs Granger, studying the boy dressed like any other muggle boy except for the attractive outer robe. She was confused because the other boy was dressed similarly and Hermione seemed to ignore him.

"You'll have to wait and see," Harry replied but this seemed to aggravate Hermione.

"Tell me!" she insisted. "I don't want you to look foolish!"

"Harry's robes are copied by everyone," Neville said. "How is that looking foolish?"

"Then it's just potion ingredients and books then," Harry said to change the subject. "Neville and I both have good cauldrons."

"Alright potion ingredients for you both and then books," Hermione said walking toward the nearest potions store.

Neville spoke up and said, "Hermione, there's a better store further up the alley."

He motioned toward the store in front of them and explained, "Potent Potions charges more because they catch all the muggleborns coming out of the bank and the wand makers."

Mr and Mrs Granger were interested in Neville's information, but Hermione replied, "No, this is the store we're supposed to use."

"Says who?" asked Harry.

"Professor Dumbledore sent me a list of potion ingredients, books and stores to use this summer." Hermione pulled a letter from her pocket and showed it to the two boys.

"That's the same letter that everyone got," Neville said, pulling his copy out of a pocket. The list of potion ingredients needed to begin the third year were listed as well as four stores that sold them, an extensive list of books and reference materials that were only sold at the book store, Flourish and Blotts.

"Did everyone get the same letter from the headmaster?" asked Hermione, disappointment evident in her voice.

I don't know why they list all the classes," Neville said. "You only have to buy the books for the classes that you're taking."

"What?" asked Mr Granger. "Only your classes?"

Mrs Granger asked, "Hermione, why did you buy all the books last week?"

"You've already bought your books?" asked Harry. "Why did you want to go shopping with us today, then?"

"I needed all the books because I'm taking all the classes this year," Hermione explained to her parents. "And I wanted to shop with you to make certain you purchased the correct books and didn't get any that might not be suitable for you to read."

"What?" exclaimed Mr Granger. "Where are you getting this notion that you know what's suitable or not for your peers to read?"

Mrs Granger looked disturbed by her daughter's statements and steered everyone back toward Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour to sit down with a treat and find out what was going on.

While Mr Granger talked with Harry and Neville, Mrs Granger whispered with Hermione and that conversation began to grow louder until Mrs Granger said, "Dan, we're going home now. Boys, forgive us for not being of any help. Hermione will see you on the express."

"Mother! I have to…"

"You will make your apologies to Mr Potter and Mr Longbottom before we leave, Hermione."

"Apologies?" asked Hermione as if her mother had ordered her to eat something particularly nasty tasting.

"Now!" Mrs Granger ordered but her daughter fell silent.

"We'll be going now," Mr Granger said, taking his daughter by the elbow and pulling her along, trailed by Mrs Granger who made her sincere apologies to the two boys.

))&&((

"Neville, something was off with Hermione," Harry said.

His friend nodded and made a typical boy response, "Girls aren't something any guy understands."

"Hey, there's Susan and Hannah!" Harry said as the two boys hurried to catch up with the two girls from Hufflepuff as they exited Madam Mankins. With Hannah's mum as escort, the four visited the book store and purchased the books they needed for class and then strolled up Diagon Alley to purchase the potion ingredients they needed from 'Most Magical Ingredients'.

When it was time to leave, Harry and Neville made their way back to Surrey using the tube and then the train. Just outside No.4, Neville thanked Harry for the education on using muggle trains and then called a Longbottom elf to pop him home.

Then Harry went inside and carried his books and potion ingredients up the stairs to store them in his trunk before coming downstairs for supper.

))&&((

SCENE Hogwarts Tantrums

The tirades by Deputy Headmistress Umbridge when she learned that Dementors would be positioned around Hogwarts rivalled Lady Longbottom's shouting in the Wizengamot. Delores's primary concern was her own safety because the witch could not produce even the weakest Patronus charm in the form of a shield let alone an animal, and she had no faith in Dumbledore's assurances. (Cornelius wouldn't accept her floo calls any longer and her letters returned unopened and marked, 'No! Not Until Another Year Has Passed'.

After hearing the news about the Dementors, Minerva, joined Charity, Filius, Pomona, and Severus to create a schedule of additional training sessions for the students to include lessons for the Patronus Charm beginning the first night for the upper years.

Albus assured them that the Dementors would not threaten the students and he was unpleasant when the heads of house reminded him how often he assured them and everyone else that there weren't any dangers in Hogwarts the previous year.

"I've hired an excellent professor for DADA this year – Remus Lupin! He'll teach the children the charm."

"You hired him?" shouted Snape in disgust. Minerva shook her head but remained silent when pressed by Filius, Pomona, and Charity asked for more information.

With the busy summer he'd had, and the interference of Delores Umbridge again and again, Dumbledore had no time to think about Harry Potter.

In an attempt to sooth the unhappy staff, Dumbledore announced that he'd have Remus Lupin come to Hogwarts the day before the students arrived to work with the professors on their schedule to teach the Patronus charm to everyone capable of producing the shield.

_(^^)_

SCENE Tragedy on Hogwarts Express

On 1 September, the students gathered at Platform 9¾, said good-bye to the parents, and hello to their classmates. There were summer stories to share, trunks to load onto the train, and new books to discuss – or the newest Quidditch scores or latest fashions for those who didn't want to talk 'school'.

Harry, Neville, Susan, Hannah, and Hermione once again shared a compartment but in the middle of the train this time. Susan looked worried almost immediately and when pressed by Harry, she confessed her aunt intended for there to be Aurors on the Hogwarts Express today to make certain there weren't any problems with the Dementors.

"But they're not here!"

"Aurors?" asked Hermione. "What for?"

"Aurors can produce the Patronus charm that drives away Dementors," Susan replied. "I don't know if any student except a few of the seventh-years could create one."

"Why would we need…"

"Are the Dementors going to be along the railway?" asked Harry.

Susan nodded, "There was a plan to 'protect' the train from Sirius Black all the way to Scotland."

"Can you send your aunt a message?" Neville asked but Susan shook her head. "The headmaster made my aunt keep the bracelet this year. Said it was a device to spy on my friends."

"It was," Hermione replied. "The headmaster told me it was."

"When did he tell you this?" asked Hannah.

"Before school was out," Hermione explained. "We talked about everything and how we'd have to work harder this year to make up for poor performance…"

"It wasn't Susan's bracelet that was spying!" Neville hissed. "You're the spy! For Dumbledore!"

Hermione lifted her head in that manner she used to reinforce her superiority to her classmates and said, "I trust the headmaster! He knows best!"

"And he's the greatest wizard since, Merlin, right?" asked Harry.

"Well, yes," Hermione admitted.

Harry sat back in his seat as Hannah and Susan both argued with Hermione. Eventually Granger grew angry and left the compartment to complain to the Head Boy and Head Girl about her classmates. The moment, the compartment door closed, Susan cast a charm to destroy any listening charms or devices – there were two in the compartment that fizzled for just a moment.

"We have to make certain every compartment has someone who can cast the fire lock spell on the door," Harry announced. "Susan and Hannah, do you want walk toward the front or the back of the train?"

"We'll go to the back," Hannah said without hesitation. "The firsties will be back there and we can lock them inside the compartments if there's not anyone there who knows Moody's spell."

"Make 'em all use the loo before you lock the door!" Neville reminded the girls.

_(**)_

Neville and Harry ran into trouble in the first compartment they entered – Zach Smith was holding 'court' and lording his pureblood superiority over Justin Finch-Fletchley and Ernie McMillian.

"Smith, you're full of it! Who cares if your grandmother and grandfather were third cousins?" asked Ernie.

"I'll be able to get a job at the ministry when I graduate that puts me into a position of authority over all of you lessor people!"

"Lessor people?" asked Justin. "What does that mean again?"

"Finch-Fletchley, I'd thought after three years you'd remember!"

Harry and Neville both recognized that Ernie and Justin were winding Smith up before turning him loose on the prefects. The Hufflepuff prefects would take Zach down a peg or two before silencing him and locking him in another compartment for the remainder of the trip.

"Guys," Harry said to interrupt the conversation.

"Hey Harry! Good summer?" asked Justin and Ernie.

"Well if it isn't the 'great disappointment'!"

Not understanding Smith at all, Harry simply replied, "Huh?"

Zach smiled and gave a speech that had to have prepared in advance saying, "My Dad says that's what Dumbledore is telling everyone at the ministry. _'Harry Potter is a great disappointment at Hogwarts'. _ Apparently, you're supposed to have saved the people who died last year and protected a great treasure in the first year but you've just been so-so in grades and not made any impression on anyone."

There was silence for a moment before Neville began to chortle and then laugh aloud. Ernie and Justin kept their mouths covered to smother their laughs while Zach turned as red as a fiery sunset.

"Shut it, Longbottom!" Zach shouted. "You're close to being…"

Smith was smart enough to shut up when all four of the other boys pulled their wands and without pointing them directly at Zach made him back down.

"What's up Harry?" asked Justin, letting Harry and Neville share their news and their fears about the Dementors being along the path of the train.

"The ministry would never let anything attack the train!" Ernie said but he didn't sound that convinced.

"What do we do?" asked Justin.

"Make certain there's one person in the compartment who can cast Moody's fire lock charm we learned in first year and keep the door closed and locked."

"No!" Zach said. "We're supposed to mingle and talk on the trip to Hogwarts!"

"How do we know if the Dementors are coming on board?" asked Justin.

"The air will get cold – like Hogwarts in January and February. And you feel bad… like after a nightmare," Harry explained remembering what Snot had told him.

"Zach, do you remember that locking charm?" Justin asked but Smith waved his dorm mate's question away.

We're going to stop in every compartment from here to the front of the train," Harry said. "Susan and Hannah went toward the back."

"I'll go help the girls," Ernie said as Justin left to help Harry and Neville. Zach pulled out a copy of the Daily Prophet with the picture of a Dementor floating above Hogwarts.

_((&&))_

"Potter!" shouted Kenneth Rookwood, the new head boy. "What are you doing scaring everyone! Dumbledore is going to give you detention for a month when we get to Hogwarts!"

"For what, Rookwood?" Harry demanded.

"Alicia says you've got your minions running all over the train scaring the firsties and making the other students mad."

"Minions? What are minions?" Harry asked with a wide-eyed look. "The only thing I've done is talk with other students to make certain everyone knows how to lock their compartment if the Dementors force their way onto the train!"

"The Dementors won't be on the train! Now go back to your compartment and stay there or I'll lock you in myself!"

Knowing that Rookwood couldn't lock him up anywhere, Harry decided not to fight this battle and while Neville and Justin slipped away to continue spreading the news, the boy-who-lived acknowledge the head boy's orders by nodding his head and then turning to return to his compartment.

"Harry, I can't believe you've gotten in trouble and we're not at Hogwarts yet!" Hermione fussed when she latched onto him just as he walked away from the head boy.

"Hermione, we're supposed to be friends! Are you tattling already?"

Ignoring the boy's question, Hermione continued, "You're going to have to be careful and not get in trouble this year. Now, we're going back to our compartment and stay there."

"Not with you!" Harry declared. "We're not friends any more and you can go stick your head up the butt of some other Dumbledore worshipper but you're not going to spy on me anymore!"

Speechless, Granger stood there as Harry ran off. She turned around to find the head boy again and yell at him some more but Justin was headed back toward their compartments and he carefully guided the angry girl back toward the middle of the train.

_))^^((_

Harry found a seat in a compartment with too many firsties and one eccentric girl from Ravenclaw, Luna Lovegood.

"Welcome Harry Potter!" Luna said. "We've been waiting for you to join us."

"Luna said you're going to save us," one boy said while several others nodded.

Harry noticed that the compartment was overloaded with students – at least twelve firsties were piled into a compartment that normally would only hold six. With Luna and himself, they totalled fourteen. Neville stopped by for a moment to report that Susan, Ernie, and Hannah were in similarly packed compartments further back on the train, and that he'd collected eight of second year students who didn't know the charm but would stay in their compartment or with Justin in the next compartment.

"I got Hermione in one compartment lecturing how great Dumbledore is and Zacharias Smith in the other telling the kids how great he is."

"Wonder if Zach knows that Justin's dad is richer than the Smiths ever pretended to be?" Harry asked.

Neville shrugged and said, "Let me get back and distract Hermione before she corrupts these kids."

_)^^(_

The Hogwarts Express was in Scotland, possibly just one hour from the train station in Hogsmeade when the train suddenly slowed and the air grew impossibly cold for September. Without any problem, Harry cast the fire lock on the compartment door that suddenly frosted over. Something moaned and rattled the door, making the kids all wail with fear. But when the fire lock burned its fingers, the creature moved away from the door. Harry remained there with his wand ready to defend the compartment.

_)^^(_

Finally, the Hogwarts Express arrived at the Hogsmeade station. Hagrid, the only member of the staff present, was overwhelmed by crying children. He asked a prefect where the Head Boy and Head Girl were but the girl merely cried and pointed back into the train.

It was Percy Weasley who organized the students as they stumbled off the train. He directed the seventh-year prefect from Ravenclaw to take the first carriage to the castle for help after he loaded the carriage with the students that seemed the most affected. Gryffindors proved to be leaders as Harry, Neville, Lavender and even Hermione followed his directions to search the train for anyone hiding in a compartment or the loo.

After the train sat in the train station for an hour, Aurors arrived and they swarmed through the train, confirming that no one was left behind and taking custody of the bodies of the four students who'd been kissed and died.

No one living had seen what happened but they'd all heard the screams as Zach Smith, Cho Chang, Kenneth Rookwood (Head Boy), and Alicia Brooken (Head Girl) had been kissed. The students reported it was the Patronus of a Border Collie, that drove the Dementors from the train.

"Who has that Patronus? Who saved the Hogwarts Express?" Alastor Moody demanded to know once he'd made certain everyone was safe inside the castle.

In the Great Hall, the children huddled together on their seats, sipping cups of hot chocolate while older children comforted the younger ones. Poppy Pomphrey directed all members of the staff expect for Delores Umbridge and Albus Dumbledore in passing out chocolate.

Amelia Bones swept into the Great Hall accompanied by several healers with bottomless bags of calming and dreamless sleep potions. They'd pass out bottles that were the appropriate size for each student that wanted them that evening.

Dumbledore was mournful – four students dead before they arrived at Hogwarts was a terrible beginning for the school year and he sorted through alternatives to blame this on the warden at Azkaban or even Amelia Bones. Cornelius Fudge was too useful as minister to allow him to carry the blame this time.

But events were beyond Dumbledore's control by the time he managed to find the courage to attempt and speak to the incandescent Director of the DMLE. She hissed at the headmaster with eight armed Aurors standing behind her, wands drawn; Albus fled for the safety of his office.

The body of each child was returned to their family by a pair of Aurors, a member of the faculty from Hogwarts, and Director Bones. It took the rest of the night, but Amelia Bones made certain each family received the body of their dead child with as much dignity as possible.

The sorting ceremony was postponed with all the firsties spending the night in the expanded Gryffindor or Hufflepuff dormitories where the prefects and other students spent the evening hugging kids, sharing chocolate and bedding them down with the calming potion and dreamless sleep potions.

))^^((

There was a subdued atmosphere at breakfast that first morning; the staff table was missing the headmaster and the deputy headmistress, and the other staff members did not appear to have slept. The students arrived in ones or twos until suddenly the whole of Gryffindor arrived together with the firsties that spent the night in their dorm. Then the Hufflepuffs arrived accompanied by Pomona Sprout. Charity Burbage left the staff table to touch each of her students on the shoulder or hug them, telling them she was glad they were safe.

Zach Smith's year in Hufflepuff left his seat empty and the Gryffindor girls all shed tears remembering Alicia. Minerva McGonagall mourned the Head Girl but remained in her chair at the table. Filius spent his morning walking around his table making certain his house was managing the grief and fear that cost them two members of their house – Rookwood and Chang.

The headlines of the Daily Prophet were anticlimactic to the students who'd lived through the event: **Dementors Attack Hogwarts Express! Four Students Kissed!**

As breakfast wound down, McGonagall rose and announced that there would be no classes that morning but that schedules would be handed out at lunch, and the sorting ceremony would occur just before dinner that evening. A few students headed toward the library but the majority returned to their dormitories with their heads of house to remember the dead students and to talk about how to stay safe at Hogwarts with the Dementors around the school.

))^!^((

Amelia Bones asked no one for permission as she assigned a team of eight Aurors to remain at the school fulltime until the Dementors were withdrawn. She activated retired personnel to fill desk jobs at the minister and spent half the day with her head in the floo demanding Wizengamot members attend a special session where she'd lay out the truth of the attack.

Augusta Longbottom was ordered to go to bed and rest once she heard that Neville was safe from the Longbottom elves.

Snot and Dobby made plans to rescue Harry and Neville if any Dementors breached the castle. Harry apparently owned a manor home in Wales that the elves cleaned and prepared to act as a school for their wizard and any of his friends. Snot created almost a ton of gold to pay bribes or tutors or whatever was needed to protect Mr Harry Potter.

++)&(++

That evening, when Umbridge remained missing (apparently, she was attempting to help Fudge manage the fallout from 'Dumbledore's mistakes' with the Hogwarts Express), Minerva McGonagall once again led the firsties into the Great Hall to be sorted. The sorting hat began a cheerful tune, but then the hat coughed and expelled a cloud of sparklers, before it stated, "Music is not appropriate tonight! We're Hogwarts and we focus of educating children, not deal with politics!"

Pomona and Charity weren't upset that the great majority of the new students came into their houses – Ravenclaw received two girls only, and Slytherin received none! One boy apparently tried to argue for Slytherin but finally agreed to join Hufflepuff.

Severus Snape was not offended to not have any first-year students. With the deaths of Slytherin students last year and no firsties this year, he had a much easier year before him.

Once the sorting was complete and the meal was served, Dumbledore retreated from the Great Hall. Her lips tight like she'd been sucking on a lemon, Minerva sighed but knew the schedules for the firsties would be easy to complete before morning.

+)**(+

The second morning, the Daily Prophet headlines were just as terrible but they were a surprize to the students this time.

**Minister Ordered Dementors to Enter the Hogwarts Express! Fudge to Blame for Deaths!**

In an article detailing the attack and aftermath, the paper identified the saviour of the day as 'Percival Weatherby', a seventh-year student from Gryffindor who cast his Border Collie Patronus three times to make certain the Dementors all left the train. He was also credited with organizing the exhausted and grieving students to get them from the train to the castle. The paper asked, "Why weren't there chaperones on the Hogwarts Express? Why didn't a wizard or witch meet the train at the station?"

From his seat at the Gryffindor table, Percy decided not to correct the Daily Prophet as to the spelling of his name. If 'Percy Weatherby' could shine in this seventh year, he'd take advantage of the new identity.

++)&(++

On the third morning, the Daily Prophet headlines announced the death of Cornelius Fudge. Apparently, the minister dismissed his security detail after returning home for the evening but then he wandered outside into the garden behind the house, where someone set upon him and tortured him to death. There weren't a great many details and there weren't any pictures. ('Thank Merlin!' thought more than one person).

++)&(++

On the fourth day, the Daily Prophet reported that Delores Umbridge had been arrested for Fudge's murder. In a hastily called meeting of the Wizengamot to conduct a trial for the witch, she was administered vertaserum and proved to be innocent of the murder but guilty of plotting to make herself the new Minister.

When asked about her position as Deputy Headmistress, Delores screamed, "There's nothing safe about Hogwarts! There are dead professors! Dead students everywhere! And the only thing that Dumbledore cares about are his brain-numbing robes!"

There passed a few days without incidents or screaming and classes began slowly, the students starting to find their rhythm. Harry was pleased with every class except for History. He and Neville took Runes without Hermione who was in a different group for the class, but they noticed and briefly discussed the fact that Hermione was taking Arithmancy with Harry at the same time she took Care of Magical Animals with Neville.

Remus Lupin proved to be a good DADA professor but he became overly interested in Harry following the DADA class where Harry's bogart appeared as an even more garishly dressed Albus Dumbledore announcing that Harry wasn't allowed to grow up.

A week after they arrived, Dumbledore rose before dinner and announced that because Madame Umbridge had been called away by other obligations, Professor Minerva McGonagall would once more assume the role of Deputy Headmistress. McGonagall's first announcement was that Penelope Clearwater would become Head Girl, and Percy Weatherby would become Head Boy effective immediately.

The students who remembered the Border Collie racing through the Hogwarts Express rose to applaud, and even after Dumbledore signalled them to be seated, students continued to rise and join in the applause. Finally, all members of the faculty except for Dumbledore, joined the standing ovation for Percy Weatherby.

+*)&(*+

SCENE Patronus

True to his word, Remus Lupin began working with all the seventh-, sixth-, and fifth-year students to teach them the Patronus charm. There were three who could already cast the spell with a corporeal figure appearing, so they were used as assistants and given extra credit. During the fall term, several additional students began to cast the charm successfully.

Lupin began exercises to strengthen the cores of the fourth- and third-year students and expected to teach them the charm in the spring. But Harry Potter kept showing up at his office whenever he taught the upper years and insisted on joining the class.

From the first class, Harry produced a strong shield with a sparkling mist that made most of the other students smile. Lupin was impressed but having known James Potter and Lily Evans, he wasn't surprized. During the third training session, Harry produced the most unusual Patronus anyone ever saw.

+*)&(*+

At the staff meeting, Remus reported in great detail that Harry Potter's Patronus was a house elf riding a muggle bicycle and flying about the classroom at incredible speeds.

"Why would Harry have a house-elf as his Patronus?" Albus asked aloud, wondering how much investigation he'd have to do about any elves around the boy-who-lived.

"Haven't you heard?" snarked Snape from the opposite side of the table. "Potter was the house elf for his relatives. He became friends with the elves in the kitchens within days of arriving."

"Severus, you know that's not true. Harry is well-loved and pampered by his relatives," countered Dumbledore though anyone who looked at Poppy Pomphrey would have seen her grow pale as she fought compulsion spells that prevented her from speaking. McGonagall refused to look up from her hands, and Charity Burbage lay down her muggle brio to stare at her parchment without broaching her conclusions.

+*)&(*+

SCENE Quidditch

The first Quidditch match of the year was scheduled for the second weekend in November. With Dumbledore's assurances that the Quidditch pitch was protected from the Dementors, the teams from Gryffindor and Slytherin prepared for the match. With many visitors from the ministry and the general population from Magical Britain gathering at Hogwarts just after lunch on Saturday, the two teams marched out onto the field joking and preparing for a great game.

Playing seeker for the third year, Harry was quick to put on speed as he flew around the pitch, leaving the Slytherin team twisting their heads trying to keep up with him. As the game proceeded, Charity Burbage and Pomona Sprout scanned the sky and they saw a few Dementors gathered outside the pitch and rushing back and forth around the wards Dumbledore had erected.

Several Patronus charms rose from the crowd and scattered the Dementors. But from the opposite direction, another group of Dementors broke through the wards and flew toward the players of both teams, high in the air. Suddenly, another Patronus appeared; it was bright and very fast but took a moment for anyone to understand what they were seeing. A house elf with a look of determination on his face, pedalled fiercely on a muggle bicycle into the mass of Dementors.

The crowd heard a new sound – the scream of a Dementor when a Patronus dove through it, ripping it to shreds. The elf-powered-bicycle circled around and tore into another Dementor, riding up the creature's back. The black shroud shed material and ichor as the Patronus killed a second Dementor.

With the snitch in his hand, Harry Potter lead his team to victory over the Slytherin team. The Daily Prophet carried a picture of Harry with the snitch but made no mention of the dead Dementors.

}}&&{{

At the Hufflepuff-Ravenclaw game in December, as the teams rose to begin play on the pitch, a dozen Patronus charms rose with them to search and for Dementors. The house elf on the bicycle flew faster than any of the demons and it killed two more of the creatures.

After that game, the Dementors never approached the Quidditch Pitch again.

}}&&{{

SCENE Sirius Returns

The presence of the Dementors was felt throughout the school as short tempers and nightmares plagued many of the children. The faculty begged Dumbledore to take steps but he laid all the fault on the Ministry and the very dead Cornelius Fudge.

"Then let the ministry select a new minister and he can send those demons back to Azkaban!" shouted Minerva.

"Selection of a new minister takes time…" Dumbledore said in an attempt to mollify the restored Deputy Headmistress.

This only ignited the fire in her next comment, "Then I guess that means you're not as all-powerful as you pretend to be, are you?"

))&&((

"What's the holdup picking a new minister?" Harry asked Neville at the Gryffindor table.

"I'm certain the Headmaster knows best," Hermione said from Harry's other side. "He's the Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot after all."

Harry giggled and said, "The Wizzen-grr-shot… Wizzes-bur-smock."

"That's not nice, Harry Potter. You shouldn't make fun of an institution's name," preached Hermione.

"Why can't they call it the 'Magical Parliament'?" he asked and Percy explained.

"The wizards in Magical Britain don't want anyone to think they imitate the muggles or use muggle things."

"That's…" Harry began to reply.

"Very short-sighted in the opinion of many wizards," Percy added.

Neville shook his head as they walked to class, "I think a lot of kids in Magical Britain would like bicycles. I saw some at a store with Harry and they come in all sizes – including ones for little kids!"

))&&((

On a rainy Saturday with Hermione driving everyone from the common room by lecturing them on the need for planning and study, Harry made his way to the Room of Requirement and thought of a 'room where I can see Sirius in his painting' each time as he paced back and forth.

A simple door appeared for just a moment and the boy-who-lived slipped inside. There he found Snot and Dobby with the painting where Sirius slept, played, ate and healed as Whitefang.

But today, the elves brought the dog, the giant black Grim out into the room and Harry ran forward to hug the dog while he was soon covered with dog slobber.

"Hey 'fang'!" Harry said though the dog suddenly glowed brightly and Harry felt the arms of his godfather slip around him.

"Pup!" Sirius Black said. "I forgot how good it felt to hug someone!"

"Sirius! Is it really you?" the boy asked with tears in his eyes.

The godfather and godson spent the morning exploring the treasures hidden in the Room of Requirement, and at lunch time, Snot called them back to the open area where a table with chairs and a large meal waited.

"Are you able to eat regular food or do we need some dog food?" teased Harry.

"Snot and Dobby feed me regular food when I transform into 'me' in the painting," Sirius explained. "This is the first time they let me out but not the first time being 'me' again or eating chicken pie. Merlin, I forgot how much I loved chicken pie!"

"Now, how do we prove you're innocent?" asked Harry.

"Do you think I'm innocent?"

"Sure, why else would you come looking for me and then spend the rest of the summer with me?"

"I… you're right. I'm just not thinking clearly."

Harry hugged his godfather and said, "You got me, Snot, and Dobby to do your thinking for you until you're able. The only thing you need to worry about is getting well."

"Okay," Sirius said. "So, tell me about your classes! Tell me about Quidditch! And Snot says you have a great Patronus!"

_))&&((_

On Sunday, Harry returned to the Room of Requirement after lunch; Snot insisted that his wizard vary his schedule and route he used when he visited the seventh floor.

"I wish I had a decent map of Hogwarts," Harry confessed to his godfather that afternoon. "There're supposed to be secret passages but no one knows where they are."

"There is – or was – a great map," Sirius replied. "And it showed all the shortcuts that the castle hides from most people. When we were students here; your dad, Moony, Wormtail, and me, made a map that showed all the rooms, all the halls, and all the secret passages. It showed us where every person was all the time."

"Wow! How did you do that?"

Grinning as he remembered happier times, Sirius said, "Without bragging too loudly, Prongs and Padfoot were geniuses with charms."

The wizard stood up and bowed while Harry laughed and applauded.

Still smiling, Sirius continued his explanation, "And Moony was great with runes to link things together and Wormtail could draw pretty good on parchment."

"What happened to the map?" asked Harry.

Sirius shrugged. "Wormtail said he lost it our last week here and we were too busy to look for it."

"So, it's still here somewhere?"

"Could be."

Harry paused and then said, "In my first year, Ron Weasley and his brothers always knew where I was trying to hide from them. I'd be gone and no one around but suddenly, Ron would show up and drag me back to the Common Room to play chess."

"Did he have the map?"

"Naw," Harry said with a shake of his head. "Probably his brothers. In second year, all the Weasleys got into trouble for being thieves and bullies. Professor McGonagall sat on them for about eight months and reformed the twins but Ron flunked out."

Then Harry's eyes grew bright as he remembered getting that piece of parchment from the twins' belongings at the end of that day; he called Snot. The elf listened for a moment before popping away and then back with a ratty looking piece of parchment that he handed to Harry.

"Is this it?" Harry asked, shoving the parchment toward Sirius. The wizard picked up the soiled parchment as if it were the greatest piece of artwork ever created in the history of wizards.

"The Marauder's Map!" Sirius exclaimed as he motioned Harry close and showed him the incantation to open and close the map, how to use the map, and explained how they each got their 'nicknames'.

"So, Dad was 'Prongs'?"

"Yep, his animagus was a buck with large antlers and that's why we called him 'Prongs'. Mine is the magnificent Padfoot that you've met, and Peter's animagus was a rat."

"What about Remus Lupin?"

"Well, Remus was the reason we studied the animagus spell. He was a werewolf and once a month, he transformed into something sorta like a wolf. When we were with him, he was able to stay calm and not hurt himself or tear up stuff."

"Werewolf? Lupin is a werewolf?"

Looking up and blinking, Sirius shrugged and replied, "Yeah why?"

"He's my DADA professor this year."

At Halloween, there was a feast in the Great Hall, but with the Dementors still around the castle, it was not very festive. The students were cheered when the older students all took turns casting the Patronus charm and the sparkling animals flying through the air did lift everyone's spirits. Flitwick, Snape, Burbage, Sprout and McGonagall sent their Patronus charms flying through the Great Hall with the ones from the students and the Halloween festival improved.

Just as the feast was ending, Hagrid came into the Great Hall and called Dumbledore away. Minerva remained in the hall until all the students were headed back to their dormitories under the watchful eyes of prefects and their head of house before she headed toward the front doors of the castle to find the headmaster and groundskeeper. Near the gates from Hogsmeade, she found them standing over a body underneath a sheet.

"Call the DMLE," Minerva said the instant she arrived.

"Now Minerva, I'm debating if that's necessary."

"Who is it?" she asked, stepping around the headmaster and ignoring him after that.

Hagrid answered, "It's that lady from the ministry and she's been kissed by a Dementor."

"Delores Umbridge?" squeaked Minerva. "A dementor kissed her on the grounds?"

"Well," Hagrid stammered. "She was back down the path when I found her and I carried her up here. Then she stopped breathing and I put her down on the ground."

Minerva pulled back the sheet and found the burns that indicated a Dementor had feasted on the soul of the witch.

"Put the body back where you found and stay with it," Minerva said. "Don't touch anything else and when the Aurors come, tell them the whole complete story."

Minerva sent off her cat Patronus with a message and shortly thereafter, two Aurors apparated into the space just outside the gates. She left Dumbledore at the gate and spoke to the Aurors who fussed at the groundskeeper for moving the body but there was no doubt that a dementor killed her.

The Aurors and Minerva were shocked to discover Umbridge had a quiver of blood quills in her purse along with a list of students she intended to question about Sirius Black. While Dumbledore wanted to suppress that information, Amelia Bones who despised Umbridge, made certain a picture of the body and the quills made the front page of the Daily Prophet.

This story pushed enough members of the Wizengamot off the fence about the election of a new minister. In a letter to Harry from Augusta Longbottom, she mentioned that she thought Amos Diggory would make a good minister if only four more members could be convinced to vote for him. There were five members identified and three of them were persuaded to vote for Diggory by personal letters from the Boy-Who-Lived. The last two took bribes of one hundred golden rocks to vote for Diggory.

In one of Diggory's first hearings, he learned about Dumbledore's role in all the security problems at Hogwarts for the last three years. During a special weekend visit with his son, a sixth year Hufflepuff at Hogwarts, Amos Diggory learned of the full story of the deaths and seeming lack of concern by the headmaster in the last three years.

As a consequence, Minister Diggory denied Dumbledore all the funds needed to pay for the Triwizard Tournament that was scheduled to be held at Hogwarts the next year. The headmaster mournfully informed Minister Diggory that Cedric would never be selected Head Boy if the tournament funds weren't provided.

"Why would I want my son to be head boy? You got the first one killed already this year!" Amos replied.

Dumbledore fussed and threatened, but Diggory backed by Bones, Longbottom, and his department heads (Edgecombe among them), stood firm and the tournament was forced to move to Beauxbatons.

And the ministry mandated that Dumbledore was required to provide goblin authenticated parental approval before any of the seventh-year students could be taken to the south of France for most of their last year.

++)**(++

SCENE Christmas Third Year

There were few students who didn't sign up to go home for the winter holiday – Hermione and Harry were the only Gryffindors to stay after they assured Head Boy, Percy Weatherby, that they would be careful and stay inside the castle the entire holiday.

With Sprout agreeing to talk to Hermione and Harry at least once each day during the holiday, even Charity Burbage left for the holiday. She intended to spend the holiday visiting the homes of various members of the Wizengamot and lobbying them to be more active with investigations into the events that Dumbledore kept covering up.

When the Hogwarts Express left the station headed back to London, Harry moved into the room of Requirement with his godfather. He appeared in the Great Hall for supper each night and made certain to talk with Professor Sprout about charms, transfiguration, or herbology. Hermione was so invested in her studies that she paid little attention to her friend.

Sirius and Harry spent most of their days flying around the castle in Austria, and they were joined by Fawkes on most of their flights. Using the Marauder's map, they'd watch people around Hogwarts and learned that Professor Lupin and Professor Sinistra seemed to get together every three or four days in her private quarters. When Harry figured out what was going on, he smacked his godfather in the head, called him a 'pervert', and hid the map for the rest of the holiday.

}}**{{

"Sirius, I have a big secret I need to tell you… a couple big secrets…" Harry said one afternoon while they sat on a sofa in the comfortable room provided by Hogwarts. Snot and Dobby appeared and sat on the floor on either side of the sofa. The godfather realized this was important and very secret if both elves appeared to protect their Mr Harry Potter.

Sitting on his hands, Sirius said, "Okay. Hit me…"

"What?" asked Harry horrified thinking Sirius wanted his godson to hit him.

Grinning, the wizard explained, "That means, 'go ahead and tell me'."

Grimacing, Harry nodded and then said, "I captured Peter Pettigrew."

He glanced at Sirius who was staring at him wide-eyed but silent so Harry went ahead with the story.

"Back in my first year, Snot and I were looking for ways to help me hide from my relatives. My bestest elf told me about sending stuff into magical portraits for the people who lived in them. He wondered if I could move in and out of them because I'm so powerful."

Sirius looked over at Snot who nodded and added, "Mr Harry Potter has more power than any wizard at Hogwarts."

"Even Dumbledore?"

"Dumbledore is falling far behind Harry Potter as boy-who-lived grows each week."

Harry grumbled, "I don't have his experience with duelling or fighting yet so I can't challenge him."

"Promise you'll wait a long time before you'll try to fight with him! He'll cheat and use every dirty trick there is!"

"I promise," Harry agreed sourly.

"So, back to Peter?"

"Snot insisted that we test the charm that sends things into the painting with a living thing. I decided to borrow Ron Weasley's rat and when we charmed it into a magical painting, the rat turned out to be a person – your friend, Peter Pettigrew."

"Do you still have him?"

Snot sniffed and asked, "Does Mr Sirius Black think that Mr Harry Potter and his elves can't keep a stupid wizard locked up? Peter Pettigrew doesn't have enough magical power to escape my locks with power from Mr Harry Potter."

The elf popped away and then back with the painting that had been Peter Pettigrew's prison for over a year now.

"Hello Peter!" Sirius said, leaning close to the canvas with a wicked grin on his face. Screaming in terror, the rat-faced man ran about the small room, trying to pry the windows open, and begging for mercy.

"Let me go into the painting…" Sirius begged. "I'll make him pay for James and Lily!"

"No, Sirius. We must keep him alive for now. When I force someone to give you a trial, we'll make him testify and prove you're innocent."

"I don't deserve to be free."

"Why?"

Sirius looked away. "If I'd been smarter, James and Lily would still be alive. You'd've grown up with parents…"

Snot grew concerned and provided a calming draught for Sirius. Once the wizard stopped crying, the elf took Sirius back into his magical painting for the rest of the day. Dobby returned Peter in his magical painting to the hidden corner behind the old chamber pots, and Harry returned to the castle, debating if he should tell his godfather any more of his secrets.

'_Next summer will be soon enough. Sirius can heal until summer; then I can tell him about the soul jars.' _

))^^((

SCENE Spring Holiday and Dumbledore's Worries

January, February, and March were quiet with no incidents with Dementors attacking students or visitors; at the two Quidditch matches in the winter term, the Dementors were nowhere to be found after the house-elf on the bicycle flew around the pitch ten minutes before the game.

}}&&{{

For the break between the Winter Term and Spring Term, Harry quietly signed up to return to his 'relatives' to escape the Dementor-influenced atmosphere around Hogwarts. Neville's grandmother planned to take him to meet with several family members over the holiday so they'd be away from Longbottom manor. Everyone wanted to escape the school and detrimental effect of the Dementors floating around the castle.

Harry wanted to spend some time with Sirius without the worry of Dumbledore or anyone else interrupting them. When summoned to the Headmaster's office by McGonagall during lunch the day before the scheduled departure, Harry walked away from the Deputy Headmistress who sputtered with anger, and approached his Head of House, Charity Burbage.

"Why is he wanting to know about your holiday plans?" she asked after hearing Harry's request to accompany him for the interview.

"He always interferes," Harry explained and from beside Professor Burbage, Professor Flitwick agreed with the boy.

"Every other student is going home to get away from the Dementors for ten days."

"Well, we'll see about this!" Burbage said as she rose from the staff table and escorted Harry through the hallways while McGonagall protested.

"The headmaster didn't…" she was protesting when Pomona Sprout, hidden in an alcove, cast her strongest finite on the Deputy Headmistress.

Feeling the charms fall away, Minerva paused and groaned, "He's doing it again."

In the headmaster's office, Mount Saint Minerva exploded without any warning, spewing a hot lava of stinging hexes and Scottish curses that would leave Dumbledore's hands, feet, and bits sore for a week while his ears would ring with her angry voice for the same amount time.

"Ye canna be charming the staff, ye Sassenach!" Minerva shouted. "Ye ken how come 'n' ye 'greed tae halt!"

Harry noticed that instead of Professor Snape, Professor Lupin was waiting in the dark corner of the room. Professor Burbage stood with one hand on Harry's shoulder and waited until Minerva's wand stopped glowing to address the headmaster.

"Professor Dumbledore, I'm perplexed as to why you sent for one of my Gryffindors. Can you explain to me why you're concerned about Mr Potter's plans for the holiday?"

"Charity, Harry is particularly vulnerable to the followers of the Dark Lord," Dumbledore replied. "It's much safer for him to remain at Hogwarts."

"Where the Dementors still float around just outside the wards?" Burbage asked. "Where the Dementors attacked the students during a Quidditch match?"

"Mr Potter has proven that he is safe from Dementors," Lupin said. "The creatures flee from him."

"And how is that comforting?" the witch asked, her voice rising with her wand. Albus attempted to bring his wand up but Minerva hissed at him with her wand already out and aimed at the headmaster. Lowering his wand, Albus didn't blanche at the looks both witches gave him.

"Harry must remain at Hogwarts. It is the only place that he's safe."

"Then why do you send him back to his relatives each summer?" Charity asked. "Why not keep him here year-round?"

"He needs a normal life as much as possible."

"Then keep your nose out of a holiday in that 'normal life' you're so obsessed with him having!"

Albus paused a moment but then said in a grave manner, "I fear there is a chance the boy's godfather, the mass murderer Sirius Black, will try and kidnap him if he leaves Hogwarts."

"Sirius Black?" Charity exclaimed. "He hasn't been seen since he escaped Azkaban last summer. If he's smart, he crossed the Irish Sea or swam across the Channel and is hiding on the Riviera."

"Sirius could never desert Britain," Lupin said from the dark corner of the office. "None of us can leave Britain."

Sighing as though dealing with a terrible burden, Dumbledore now turned his attention to Harry and asked, "Are your relatives expecting you, my boy?"

Never looking at Dumbledore's eyes, Harry replied, "I am spending the holiday with my family – sir."

"Look at the headmaster when he speaks to you, Harry!" Professor Lupin instructed. Rather than looking at Albus, Harry turned his eyes to Remus and the wolf flinched back from the instant headache caused by the protections of the Heirs Canticle.

"We're done here," Charity spit when she recognized the cause of the DADA professor's headache, and she turned Harry to lead him from the office. "Mr Potter's holiday plans are no one's business but his own."

"Harry, this holiday is ill conceived! Your relatives will regret seeing you this holiday!"

"Albus! How dare you say something like that!" Minerva shouted, but Dumbledore did use his wand to push the Deputy Headmistress from his office and the woman repaid the headmaster by transfiguring several pieces of paper around his office into smelly cat piles.

Remus staggered from the office and once down the stairs, he slumped against the wall, but neither witch offered him assistance. Finally, Harry whispered for Dobby to bring the man a headache potion. The elf popped the potion into Harry's hand and the boy took it to his DADA professor on the floor beside the gargoyle.

"Here. Don't try to read my mind again," Harry said as he handed the potion to the man.

"Harry, Professor Dumbledore knows what's best for everyone. You must trust him," the wizard said before he chugged the potion. When he looked up again, the boy was gone.

))&&^&&((

It was late in the evening and the circular staircase brought Remus Lupin back to the headmaster's office.

"Is your head alright?" Albus asked.

"Yes, but a word of warning would have been welcome," Remus said casually.

"I needed to know if his mind is protected from all intrusion," Dumbledore replied. "I regret the pain but it is a good sign that his mind has such a formidable barrier in place. When the Dark Lord returns, he'll try to influence Harry through his scar and that same barrier will keep him out."

"Harry's scar?" Lupin asked. In his interactions with the boy this year, he'd not noticed a scar at all.

"Yes, the scar on his forehead," replied the headmaster with his reassuring smile. Remus wasn't as certain but then he remembered the headmaster had information no one else had and must know best.

"Remus, I must tell you I believe Sirius Black will attempt to contact Harry during the holiday. It's possible the boy's already in touch with him and planning to meet with him in London!"

"Can't you put tracers on Harry?" Remus asked. "Something that tracks him?"

Shaking his head, Dumbledore replied, "The boy has grown devious in the last two years. He hangs out with children I don't approve of. The poor Weasleys… well, let's not talk about their plight at this time."

Again, Lupin's observations of Harry Potter conflicted with Dumbledore's assertions: Potter was friends with many students from all four houses and from all different years. Remus couldn't characterize any of them as being from 'objectional' families.

"You knew Black better than anyone else still living," Dumbledore reminded the werewolf. "Where could he be hiding in London? Where would he take Harry to hide him from me and the DMLE?"

After searching his memory, Remus spoke, "The only place he can go is to his family home in Grimmauld Place. The house is No.12 on the street if I remember correctly. It was always a terrible house and it'll be deserted now that his mother is dead. Sirius could get in and hide there with Harry."

"Is it on the floo network?"

"Probably but unless a member of the Black family grants you permission, you'd be burned to cinders if you try to enter through the floo."

"And outside the house? What wards?"

"It has the most powerful wards of any magical house I've ever seen. You couldn't get in without a week of draining spells and you'd have to know where the warding stone is," Remus said, shaking his head.

"But what if you walked up and knocked on the front door?" Albus asked. "If Sirius is there, he'd welcome a visit from an old friend. And if Harry's there, you can evaluate the situation. Go tomorrow."

Dumbledore's instruction left Lupin disgruntled; he'd hoped to spend some quality time with Aurora Sinistra while all the students were gone. She found the idea of having a werewolf lover to be stimulating.

"We need chaperones on the Hogwarts Express to reassure the students that there won't be another Dementor attack. After Harry leaves the train station, go to this house and see if Sirius is there."

"You'll find that your former friend is insane at the very least and he could be extremely dangerous. Remove Harry if you feel that is the only way to save him. But in any case, come back to the castle tomorrow night and tell me what you find."

Remus agreed and left the headmaster's office unaware that an elf listened to the entire conversation. Under the protection of Hogwarts, Dobby was safe so he remained underneath the Headmaster's desk as the man muttered about making certain Sirius had an accidental meeting with a Dementor at the Ministry.

"Why else would I have had Cornelius send them here under an enchantment that'll last ten months, but there's been no sign of Black anywhere around the castle," Dumbledore asked himself. "Amos can't order them back to Azkaban until the last student leaves for summer."

Once Dumbledore went down for supper, Dobby left the office to find Snot and share the headmaster's plans.

++(&)++

SCENE Spring Holiday Patronus

Immediately following breakfast every student in the school rushed to gather their trunks and move to the Hogwarts Express – they all walked together with multiple Patronus animals circling overhead and the Potter Patronus chasing and running down another Dementor.

Headmaster Dumbledore generally would never have walked out when the students were leaving but he wanted to observe the renowned Potter Patronus.

"Amazing power the boy has," Minerva whispered from beside the headmaster. "He'll certainly exceed your achievements if I have anything to say about it."

"Minerva! Really!"

Her cat Patronus flew about their heads before it latched onto a Dementor and began clawing its way toward the head. Screeching in terror, the Dementor fled from the feline and drew the few Dementors that lingered around the train station back into the skies, high above Hogwarts.

"I never saw your Patronus today," the deputy headmistress commented. "Are you having trouble casting the spell?"

Without a comment, Dumbledore returned to his office. Filius, Pomona, and Remus would ride with the students to London, protecting the train from another incursion of Dementors.

Harry sought out Hermione for the ride home to assure the girl that they were still friends of a sort, and welcomed Neville, Susan and Hannah as well as Ernie and a few others who stopped by. The compartment was full of Gryffindor firsties who remained near Harry for protection but they aggravated Granger with their constant questions about charms and transfiguration but Harry helped each one when Hermione brushed them off.

The chaperones walked the halls and spoke pleasantly to many of the students, but along the entire length of the train, everyone kept their wands handy. The students who couldn't cast the Patronus spell were in compartments with at least one student who could.

Percy Weatherby's familiar border collie sped up and down the halls of the train regularly and Harry's house elf pedalled his bicycle through the train twice to bring laughter and smiles to every face.

&&%%&&

At Kings Cross Station, Hermione attempted to guide Harry through the muggle exit while he was saying 'goodbye' to friends.

"Come on Harry, it'll take a long time to get to Surrey."

"Huh?" Harry asked finally paying attention to his 'friend'. "How do you… What's going on Hermione?"

"I thought my mom and dad could take you home before we go to Crawley."

"We go in opposite directions," Harry replied.

Hermione grabbed Harry's arm and said, "Don't make a scene. Mum and Dad will be glad… Where's your trunk?"

"I shrunk it down this morning," Harry said. "Didn't you learn that spell in Flitwick's class last week?"

"Yes, but how can you unshrink it now? You can't use magic outside Hogwarts."

Harry shook his head, "You just have to tap the lock with your wand and the spell reverses. And if you cast the charm correctly, you can shrink it back again with just the touch of your wand."

"No, that's not correct," Hermione said as they reached her parents.

"Hello sweetie," Mr Granger said to greet his daughter. "Hello Mr Potter."

"Mr and Mrs Granger, I hope you are well today," Harry said in greeting with a proper half bow.

"Stop with the pureblood manners, Harry. This isn't Hogwarts!" Hermione insisted.

"Good manners are always welcome," Mrs Granger said.

Mr Granger asked, "Are your relatives coming for you, Mr Potter."

With a bright smile on her face, Hermione said, "I volunteered us to take him to Surrey this afternoon."

"What?" asked Mr Granger, surprise clearly written on his face.

Mrs Granger said, "Hermione, we've got reservations. We can't go all the way to Surrey and back to Crawley in just two hours."

"But… I want… we need to make certain he's with his relatives!" Hermione insisted before she turned around and noticed that Harry was stepping away.

"It was very nice to see you again, Mr and Mrs Granger," Harry said before he turned and ran into the crowds moving from the trains toward the exits and the stairs to the tube.

"Harry! Harry Potter! You come back here!" yelled Hermione, who was so distracted she drew her wand. Mrs Granger moved quickly to grab the wand out of her daughter's hand while Mr Granger wrapped his arms around their daughter as she began to cry.

Before collecting their daughter at Kings Cross, Dan Granger resisted his wife's plan to take Hermione immediately to a hospital after they picked her up for the Spring holiday but now, he wanted to know what was wrong. The woman from the Magical Child Welfare department (at the Ministry the Grangers could not visit) had come to their home and after reading Hermione's letters, the letters from her friends, and the letter from her head of house, agreed that Hermione should be evaluated for exhaustion.

"And she can't have anything with her that's magical. I don't want anyone from the ministry or from the school to track her and interfere," the witch told them.

Dan sat in the back of the car with his daughter in his arms like she was three instead of fourteen as Jane drove to the private hospital. Hermione was in a daze as her parents admitted her. Then her clothing was changed by her mother and a matron, before she was evaluated by a physician. Dosed with a muggle pharmaceutical, Hermione fell sleep as her parents met with the physician (a muggleborn) and the lady from the ministry's department of Magical Child Welfare.

SCENE Grimmauld Place

Once free of Hermione and the others from the train, Harry went down the stairs to the tube station. There, he slipped into the bathroom, stuffed his outer robe into his backpack, and called Snot. The elf appeared, glanced about as if he could see through the walls, then nodded and popped away with his wizard.

They reappeared in a small park in another part of London that was overgrown with weeds and with trash around broken benches. Harry could see tall buildings in the distance and realized they were still in London but not a very good part of the metropolis. The rows of houses here were old and in need of repair. Cars were parked on the sidewalk when the street was too narrow and there were few people about.

Looking about for Snot, Harry found him in his elderly man disguise and then smiled, "Hey Granddad!"

"Shall we go meet your godfather before I begin with the stinging hexes to your posterior?" Snot said, waving down the street.

"This neighbourhood is interesting," Harry remarked quietly.

"Dobby and I will begin to clean it up after we're certain that you'll be here any amount of time. Sirius has very mixed emotions and I believe we'll locate a different house for summer."

Harry asked, "Is there anything available in Little Whinging?"

"What do you mean?"

"How about buying a house on Privet Drive? You and Dobby could keep house for Sirius up the street. I could be there all day and just sleep at No.4. We can disguise him when Neville comes over."

The old man's face was bright with calculation as he considered 'finding' a house for sale in Little Whinging. And Harry had permitted him to make gold at will that year to pay for doctors and potions for Sirius, and to bribe a few members of the Wizengamot to support Lady Longbottom.

))^^%^^((

At a dark door labelled No.12, Snot motioned Harry to knock. The door was immediately thrown open and a joyous reunion between godfather and boy occurred on the stoop before the 'grandfather' pushed them inside.

"Pup! I finally got you in the real world!" Sirius shouted happily not willing to release Harry from his arms.

"Sirius! You look good!" Harry asserted. "Are you getting better?"

"Every day!" Sirius said.

Then he leaned closer and whispered, "But I warn you not to ignore orders from Snot or Dobby. They're as tough as nanny elves let me tell you."

Sirius rubbed his backside as if it was still tender from stinging hexes and Harry just laughed. Then he took a look at the house and the state of the furniture, the walls, carpets and stairs.

"Sirius, this place is a dump!" Harry complained. But then the boy blushed and said, "Sorry."

But Sirius just laughed and hugged Harry. "No worries pup, it was a terrible place to live as I was a kid and I guess the elf just let it go after the bitch died.

"The who?" asked Harry as they began to climb the stairs.

"My mother, the world's biggest bitch that rhymed with the word witch for her entire life."

At the first landing on the stairs, Sirius stopped and reached over to pull a cord that pulled back the drapery from a magical portrait of a perpetually angry woman.

"Mother, how are you today? Do the Dark Lord's farts still smell like perfume to you?" asked Sirius before leaning close to Harry to whisper, "That's a saying I picked up from your elves this winter."

The portrait of the woman yelled, "You're nothing but a disappointment to the entire family, Sirius Black! I hoped that Azkaban killed you but here you are back again to torment me!"

Again, Sirius leaned over and whispered, "She can lecture me for hours. When I got to Hogwarts, McGonagall was a real pussy cat compared to my mother… Get it? A pussy cat?"

"And what piece of trash have you brought into the honourable house of Black today?" the portrait demanded.

"Ah yes, dear mother, allow me to introduce you to the only grandson you'll ever have – Harrison Jameson Potter-Black."

Leaning toward the portrait, Sirius lowered his voice and said, "His mother was a muggleborn and I hope that piece of news gives you indigestion for the next century."

"WHAT!" screamed the portrait, making Harry take a step back though Sirius merely laughed and began to close the drapery.

"KREATURE!" the woman yelled. "Kill them! Kill them both!"

There was a pop on the stairs above them and an ugly, old elf appeared there with a large kitchen knife in his hand.

"Dirty, nasty disappointment returns home and brings mudblood bastard into House of Black! Kreature cuts you into pieces and feeds…"

Whatever the elf was going to say was lost in a single quiet 'erp' as Dobby appeared behind him and chopped the elf's head off with one swing of a giant kitchen cleaver.

"Kreature was a worthless elf and then he threatened Dobby's master and master's dogfather so I introduced him to my little friend," said Dobby with great satisfaction as he hefted the cleaver over his head.

Snot appeared at the bottom of the stairs and sulked, "You cheated Dobby! You knew Kreature would attack from above!"

The little elf shrugged, "Snot doesn't see things sometimes. You picked the bottom of the stairs and told me to protect them at the top of the stairs. Let me cook supper and I'll let you clean the mess up here."

Frowning, Snot said, "Deal."

"Harry…" Sirius tried to say something but his godson only laughed.

"Don't forget Sirius, I have the bestest elves in the whole wide world."

++))**((++

While Sirius took Harry upstairs and showed him a semi-cleaned room that had once been the room for Sirius's younger brother, Snot and Dobby did clean up the mess the execution of Kreature had created.

"He was a good elf once upon a time," Dobby said. "I'm sure he was."

"You think that all elves must be good inside," Snot said. "But like wizards, I think some elves are good and some are bad."

"What's this?" Dobby asked as he lifted a large, ugly necklace from around the elf's corpse. The little elf wore is as a belt because it was too big to wear around his neck.

"That's another…" Snot said backing away. "Put it back on the floor!"

Dobby dropped the necklace and locket as Snot popped away and almost immediately, Sirius and Harry were running down the stairs.

"Where is it?" Harry asked as Dobby pointed to the necklace with the locket lying on the body of the dead elf.

Grabbing Dobby and pulling him away, Harry asked, "Are you hurt? Did it burn you or feel funny?"

"It did feel funny, Mr Harry Potter but Snot said to throw it down before he popped away," Dobby replied, terribly surprised to be handled with gentle hands by Mr Harry Potter.

"What's going on?" asked Sirius, not understanding the bruhaha over a necklace and locket.

"Your elf, Kreature; he had a soul jar that belonged to the Dark Nutjob everybody calls He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named," Harry explained. "And that would explain why the elf was crazy like you say."

"I wonder how long it's been here in the house?" Sirius said. "My brother, father, and mother were all crazy…"

Harry began the long delayed explanation about accidently capturing the piece of the Dark Lord hiding in his scar. And thenhe told the tale of second year; the diary that let the Weasley daughter set the basilisk free to kill students, and then the diadem found by sheer chance.

Sirius shook his head, "Hogwarts probably directed you to the part of the Room of Requirement where the thing was hidden. The castle can't get the headmaster to act so it is using magic to move things along."

"Do you think Hogwarts minds that I hid everything there?"

"Could anyone get them out of these paintings where you stuck 'em?"

Dobby replied, "No one but Mr Harry Potter has the power to move those things from the canvas back to this world."

Sirius nodded. "Good!"

Then, the wizard sighed and moved to sit on a dusty chair just as Snot appeared with the magical painting that contained the other soul jars. Harry made certain to hug Snot and refill his magical core before motioning to Dobby.

"Dobby Potter Elf, would you do me the honour of casting this soul jar into the painting with the others?" he asked the smallest elf who nodded his head so vigorously, Harry and Snot feared he'd do himself damage.

With a single sweep of his left hand, Dobby levitated the locket and then he spun around slowly and with a wave of his right hand, threw the locket and necklace into the canvas where they bounced off the wall behind the table but settled on the table top with the diary and diadem.

"Show off," Snot said but Dobby just grinned as Harry applauded and Sirius laughed from his seat.

"Four down and two to go," Harry said, his eyes narrowed in determination.

))^^((

At the private hospital, far from Grimmauld Place, four adults were confused by the results of the physician's examination of Hermione Granger.

"You say your daughter is not yet fifteen?"

"Dr Harris, her birthday is in September and she was fourteen last year," Jane stated.

"My magic tells me she's well over fifteen…"

"How is that possible?"

The witch from Magical Child Welfare growled and said, "Go back now and test her for residue of the sands of time."

The wizard looked up so suddenly and with so much concern that he rose and ran from the room.

"If it's true, I'll rip that old man's balls off and stuff them down his throat along with his beard!" the witch swore. "And whoever agreed to help him, I'm going to stuff them up his ass!"

"Please, what's going on?" asked Jane Granger.

Andromeda Tonks sighed and said, "You mentioned that your daughter was taking all the classes offered for third year students this year?"

"Yes. We were concerned that she was going to burn herself out and that's why we sought out Dr Harris."

"It is physically impossible to take all the classes in any year's course group – they overlap quite a bit," Andromeda explained. "I wanted to question Hermione about crossing over between years for classes but now I think the headmaster provided your daughter with a time turner."

"A what?"

Tonks frowned before she explained, "It's a magical construct that allows a witch or wizard go back in time up to four hours. I believe when Dr Harris returns, he'll confirm that your daughter has been using a time turner to repeat every school day to attend the extra classes."

Rubbing his hands through his hair, a habit when he was distressed, Dan Granger said, "Hermione would maximize her use of the device to get extra study time too."

"But she'd not think to schedule extra sleep and extra meals," Andromeda said. "Teenagers can be brilliant one minute and easily forget simple things the next."

))^^((

Watching Sirius stare at the painting of the soul jars, Harry asked what his godfather was thinking about.

"I'd like to take a shovel in there and just beat those things… I bet Dark Whose-it would feel each and every slam!"

"I asked the elves about that and they worried that it would warn him we were hunting them…" Harry replied. "But I understand wanting to hit Dork Lord Whatshisname."

Sirius nodded and turned his gaze away from the painting.

"Dobby, let Sirius show you the kitchen and start supper, please."

Confused for only a moment, Dobby said, "Yes, Mr Harry Potters."

At the little elf's prompting, the wizard passed the painting and went down the stairs as Snot and Harry kept neutral expressions on their face. When Sirius led Dobby through a door at the back of the entry hall, Snot glanced at Harry who nodded before Snot popped away with the painting.

The Room of Requirement in Hogwarts offered the most secure location that Harry and Snot knew to hide the paintings. After returning the painting to the same location as before, near but not touching the other two magical paintings that held 'captives', Snot immediately returned to Grimmauld Place. Harry's boost to the elf's magic made him scary powerful.

Harry hadn't made it to the bottom of the stairs to head for the kitchen when Snot popped back into Grimmauld Place and called out, "Mr Harry Potter, I must talk with you urgently!"

Running back up the stairs, Harry asked, "What's wrong? Did the portraits move? Anyone find them?"

"No, Hogwarts is hiding them from everyone."

Then Snot took a deep breath and explained about the conversation that Dobby had overheard in the headmaster's office the previous night and the 'visitor' they should expect at any moment.

"And Professor Lupin gave Dumbledore the street address?"

"Yes, Mr Harry Potter."

"He'll wait until we're settled in for the night," Harry said as he paced about the landing. "Professor Lupin is a planner. If he showed up too soon it would look like he followed me here."

Snot kept silent but the perceived insult that anyone would be able to track his elvish popping was plain to see on his face.

"Stop!" Harry said. "I 'know' that's not possible but would other people know you can't be tracked?"

"If he knocked on the door right now…" Snot offered the idea of an early appearance.

"We'd grab Sirius and run; certain Lupin was following me."

"Okay, what do you think he's planning?" asked Snot.

Harry replied, "He'll wait until after supper or just before time to eat. He knows the schedule I keep at Hogwarts and he'll think I'm in the kitchen preparing supper."

Snot's face again was incredulous but then he nodded his understanding, "Not many people know you have elves."

"I don't want Sirius to have to try to fight anyone; his magic is still all over the place!"

And Snot insisted, "And Mr Harry Potter is not ready to fight a grown wizard with years of experience."

"I can beat almost everyone in Hogwarts when we duel," Harry reminded his elf who nodded to acknowledge his wizard's abilities.

"Yes, for a thirteen-year-old wizard you are magnificent in duels but a fight is different than a duel. Duels have lots of rules and a fight has only one rule – stay alive."

Nodding his head to concede to Snot's argument, Harry asked, "What's your plan?"

"We capture the werewolf in a magical painting."

"He won't just walk into a canvas for me," Harry said. "That'd be too easy."

Snot snapped his fingers and the door to the Grimmauld family library opened.

"Step inside Mr Harry Potter," Snot said and trusting his elf, Harry did just that to only find himself inside the painting of the Roman gardens. He spun around and saw the elf standing outside the frame of the painting with a satisfied look on his face. Harry reached for his wand but then saw Snot holding up his wand, his money bag, and all the items that were in his pocket.

'_I do have the bestest elves in the world!'_ Harry decided as he applauded Snot's work. Seeing the look on his wizard's face, the elf bowed and with a wave of his hands, motioned for Harry to step out of the painting.

"What if I have to go into the room first?"

Snot smiled and said, "I control my charms. You could walk into the library but the next hundred wizards chasing you would be trapped in the painting."

"Merlin, that'd be great in a fight!" Harry said. "We'll have to work on that idea!"

))^^((

They were getting up from the supper table when there was a loud knock on the door. Sirius looked around and shrugged.

"Let's see if they go away," Sirius said after the second knock. But the knocking persisted and Harry stood up.

"Let me get the door," he told Sirius as they walked toward the front door and Harry noticed that Sirius had his wand in his hand. "Dobby and Snot, hide and don't be visible to whoever it is."

Then he looked at Sirius and insisted, "There's no one else here – just you and me. No elves."

Sirius nodded, "Yeah, I had to kill the elf when he threatened me."

There was another knock on the door and Harry stepped forward to grab the door knob.

"She's been using a time turner frequently for an indeterminate amount of time," Dr Harris told Hermione's parents and the witch from Magical Child Welfare with the Ministry for Magic.

"Probably since September last year," Jane replied. "She started classes on the second."

"I remember Hogwarts," Harris said. "And you think she was taking all the classes from the first day."

"She said she was. We didn't see her at Christmas but with all the Demons floating around the school, her head of house mandated that everyone return home for the ten-day spring holiday."

"Dementors are pretty close to demons," Andromeda agreed.

Turning to the doctor, she asked, "So, what can you do to help her?"

"The first thing is that she must absolutely stop using the time turner."

"We searched her belongings and it's not on her or in her trunk. We even checked her jewellery for charms and it's not there."

"The headmaster probably kept it at the school rather than risk her bringing it in the real world," Harris said.

"The real world? What does that mean?" asked Dan.

Dr Harris smiled ruefully, "Muggleborns who graduate from Hogwarts almost always come back to this side of the mirror from Wonderland. We're not welcome or wanted after graduation. I was lucky because my parents insisted that I keep up with my muggle classes."

"Hermione's wasting her time in Wonderland, eh?"

Glancing at Andromeda before the doctor answered, "Yes. Unless she is selected to marry a pureblood wizard, she'll be kicked out of Magical Britain before she's eighteen."

"Selected?" asked Dan. "They can do that?"

"She's too young to be betrothed yet," Andromeda said. "Let's get her stable and back on an even keel before you begin hunting wizards with a rifle."

Dan frowned and replied, "That's entirely possible. Now I understand the motivation behind the witch hunts in olden times."

"What can we think about doing?" Jane asked.

"I'll give you a medical exemption tonight," Dr Harris said. "Tonks will sign off on it and with that paper you can take your daughter out of Britain without protest from the ministry. I'd recommend moving to the States and enrol her in any of their schools. Hermione won't be the first refugee from Magical Britain they've seen."

Dan and Jane exchanged glances and nodded.

"Why do any of you stay there?" Jane asked.

Harris replied, "I never married and don't have children. I stayed to help other muggleborns."

When there was silence for a moment, Andromeda realized they expected her to answer that terrible question.

"I don't know… I wish we'd left ten years ago. That was before my daughter started Hogwarts."

%% && %%

Harry pulled open the door, allowed his eyes to widen and stammered, "Professor Lupin?"

"Well, what are you doing here Harry? Is Sirius here? May I come in?" asked the professor, pretending he hadn't suspected that Harry would be here.

"I don't think…"

Lupin called over the boy, "Padfoot! Are you in there, you old marauder? It's Moony come to play some pranks on the Slytherins."

"Moony?" called Sirius who stepped forward and Lupin pushed past Harry to enter the entry hall and hug Sirius.

"Moony… It's so good to see you," Sirius said with tears and sobs. Harry made certain there was no one else in the street before he shut and locked the door. When he turned the lock, every ward in the house went into effect.

The two wizards went into the kitchen and Harry followed, clearing the table and starting to wash the dishes. The two old friends began by sharing memories. Eventually, their conversation turned to the current situation.

"Your place is sort of a mess, Sirius," Lupin observed. "I thought you had an elf."

Grinning, Sirius answered, "My mother had the most horrible elf in the world. Name was Kreature and he's dead… I hope."

He looked up at Lupin and asked in a most serious tone, "They can't come back from the dead? Can they?"

"What? No…" Lupin replied and then saw the gleam in his friend's eye.

"Gotcha!" Sirius laughed; a sound echoed by Harry who was busy at the sink.

Then Sirius asked, "How'd you figure out where to find me?"

"You're out of options," Remus said. "None of us can leave Britain, you know that. And I remember this place from when we were kids; it's the logical place for you to come."

"I'm perfectly safe here, Moony."

"But what about Harry? Is he safe?" Lupin asked.

He leaned over and asked Sirius, "Are you safe to be around?"

"What?" Sirius asked while Harry stopped washing dishes and turned around, a strange look on his face.

Lupin pressed ahead with his argument, "Sirius, you were locked in Azkaban for eleven years."

"Twelve," Sirius corrected. "It was twelve years. Are you trying to trip me up, Moony?"

"No, not tripping you, but asking you to think about what's best for Harry," Lupin said.

Motioning toward the house, he asked, "Do you think this is good environment for him to live in."

Snorting, Sirius replied, "He's here for a holiday. We're not living here…"

"You say that today, but come the end of June, where would you take him?"

Wiping his hands on a towel, Harry stepped forward and asked with scorn in his tone, "Dumbleshit sent you, didn't he? You were there last night when he ordered me to stay at school and Professor Burbage told him to piss off."

"Harry, show Professor Dumbledore the respect he's owed."

"I do," Harry answered shortly.

He turned to his godfather and asked, "Sirius, what do you think of a professor who attempts to read a student's mind? Who attempts to use legilimency to find out a kid's secrets?"

Sitting up, Sirius asked, "Did Snivellus do that?"

"Who's Snivellus?" asked Harry while Lupin frowned knowing where the conversation was going.

"That's our nickname for Snape," explained Sirius who noticed his godson's face turned sour.

But Harry shook his head 'no' and Sirius persisted, "Who?"

Harry pointed and said, "Professor Lupin. Just did last night."

Sirius turned to stare at his friend. As all the breath rushed from his body, Sirius declared, "Moony, that's a Death Eater move!"

"We have to protect Harry," Lupin responded, waving away any objections Sirius had. "Headmaster Dumbledore says that Harry is critical to the defeat of the Dark Lord."

"Which one?" asked Harry.

"What do you mean? He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is the only dark lord.

"No," Harry said shaking his head. "Dumbleshit is just as dark as Whatshisname."

Rising to his feet, Remus Lupin shouted, "You will not call Albus Dumbledore a Dark Lord!"

Angry, the visitor pulled his wand and began to cast a spell at the boy while shouting, "And you stop calling him that…"

Sudden and complete darkness overtook Remus Lupin.

When Remus Lupin woke up, he casually took a deep breath and 'smelled' that he was back in the entry hall of No.12 Grimmauld Place with Harry and Sirius in the room with him. Harry was closer and Sirius was nervous.

"I know you're awake, Professor Lupin," Harry said. "Open your head and lift up your head."

Responding to the very reasonable request, Remus did just that though he flexed his arms and legs, only to find he was securely bound.

"The Black family didn't care for werewolves so they kept rope with a silver core handy. It won't kill you unless you stay bound for more than a day."

"Harry, let me go,"

"No, professor. You were raised in the magical world and should know what happens when a guest raises his wand against his host or the son of the host in his own home."

Lupin fell quiet but then said, "I do remember. The host has the right to kill me without repercussion from the law."

"Good. You'll understand if I separate your head from the rest of you in a little while. Now, Sirius doesn't want me to kill you. He still thinks of you as his last, best friend. He even loves you but you're so far up… What's that expression Sirius?"

"He's so far up the old wizard's butt, he thinks that Dumbledore's farts are perfume."

"Yeah, that's it!" Harry said with a cheeky grin. "So, tell me Professor Lupin, do Dumbledore's farts smell like perfume? And you're a werewolf so I know you can smell 'em."

"I…" Lupin fought answering that question.

"The chair is working pup," Sirius said. "Moony, don't answer that question."

"What did you do to me?" Lupin demanded to know.

Harry grinned, "I am developing a quick love for the Black side of my family."

Then the boy motioned toward the ordinary looking chair to which Lupin was tied. "This is a truth chair."

"No, they don't exist!" Lupin shouted out.

"Sorry, but they do," Sirius admitted. "We've had one for almost two hundred years."

Remus began using all his strength to attempt to move the chair. If he could tip it over, he could break it and destroy the enchantment before he said too much. But the chair was stuck to the floor with a very strong sticking spell.

"Sirius, you have to let me go."

"Talk to me, not the friend you betrayed, Remus Lupin," said Harry. "Did you know that Wormtail would betray my parents?"

"What… No, I don't believe that Wormtail was a traitor."

"Do you believe Sirius betrayed James and Lily?"

Struggling for a moment before he began to cry, Lupin said, "Yes, I believe Padfoot did it. He betrayed James and Lily. He was from the Black family – they're all evil… and…"

And?" Harry asked as Remus fought the question. "And what?"

"Dumbledore told me that Sirius did it. That Sirius led Voldemort to James and Lily that night! He told me you did it!"

Sitting in a corner opposite from Lupin, Sirius sobbed, "First Wormtail betrays James and his family. Now you betray me and Harry to another Dark Lord."

"I don't believe that Dumbledore is a dark lord!"

Harry shook his head and asked, "Did you notice that you can't say, 'Dumbledore is not a dark lord'? Only that you 'believe' he is not a dark lord."

The boy glanced at Sirius and said, "It's gotta be brain rot from sniffing all the farts."

Then Harry told Remus about his life with the Dursleys before Hogwarts. "I was a house elf, nothing more, for my relatives."

"I believe Dumbledore when he told me he didn't know."

"He assured me before December that first year he was well aware of everything that happened to me at Privet Drive! And that unless I was a good little minion, he'd confine me to that prison every holiday as well as the whole summer!

"Remus, why did you come here today?" asked Sirius from the far side of the room.

Struggling less and less, Remus admitted, "Dumbledore told me that you are insane and possibly dangerous. I'm to remove Harry if I think it's necessary and go back to the castle tonight to report."

Without another word, Sirius stood up and walked into the lounge, closing the door behind him.

"You betrayed Sirius… just like Wormtail!" Harry heaped scorn on Remus Lupin.

"No! You can't be here with him! I believe that Sirius is dangerous!"

"And you're a werewolf who has taught DADA at Hogwarts for the past eight months. Have you killed and eaten any students?"

"Not yet, but I'm thinking about it now!" Lupin growled.

Harry stared for a moment and then laughed aloud.

"Thanks Professor Lupin! That's another memory I can use for my Patronus!"

They stared at each other for a few minutes until Lupin asked, "Are you going to kill me?"

"I don't want to kill anyone. But I will if you don't apologize to Sirius! Even if you don't mean it, tell him you're sorry for being a terrible friend! He's…" Harry stopped before he said too much.

"Offer Sirius an apology and I swear I will release you… let you walk out the front door. Don't try to apparate back to Hogwarts tonight because the rope will leave you weak for two days. At least that's what the book says. Take the tube to the Leaky Cauldron and use the floo there."

"Let me use the floo here," Lupin said.

"No. Tonight, you'll get nothing from the House of Black but your worthless life."

"Give me my wand," Remus said thickly, feeling naked without his wand after an hour in this damned chair.

"It'll be hanging on a string in the doorway as you leave the house. But the door will close behind you and I've raised all the wards."

"You shouldn't tell me that," Remus admitted and Harry shrugged and glanced over his shoulder toward the door to the lounge as Remus bunched his muscles again, trying to break the ropes. But they burned him, setting his wolf to howling, as Lupin stretched his muscles. Sweating and breathing hard, Remus closed his eyes and tried to think of something… anything…

When he opened his eyes again, Sirius stood on the other side of a large table in front of him with Harry off to the side, his wand bright with a chain of blasting spells at the ready – the boy had paid attention in class.

"I'm not sorry, Sirius," Remus said. "I still believe you're a traitor and I hope you die when they take you back to Azkaban."

Lupin looked at Harry and said, "Oops. Guess you shouldn't have put me in a truth chair and then ask me to lie."

The look on Black's face became murderous but the werewolf smirked and said, "Your 'son' gave me his word I'd be released if I apologized. And I did apologize as much as I can while tied to a truth chair."

"Get out!" Sirius ordered.

The ropes fell away and Remus found it difficult stand up and not fall over. He almost reached back to grab hold of the chair for support but then snatched his hand back, not willing to touch the chair again.

Slowly staggering toward the front door, he asked, "Where's my wand?"

"Hanging in the door," Harry replied as he waved his left hand and the door swung open. Remus did see his familiar wand hanging there on a string and he stepped forward eagerly.

'_It'll take longer to use the tube, but I can't risk…'_ his thoughts were cut off as once again, darkness took hold of Remus Lupin.

The front door to No.12 closed as quietly as it had opened and Dobby appeared there; he'd been the hand that opened the door for the werewolf to step through to the 'outside'. Harry glanced over at Sirius who now returned to his normal shape and size – Snot had begun to develop a catalogue of useful human shapes.

"Where's the painting?" Harry asked.

"On the landing," Snot answered as Harry turned and ran up the stairs to the landing where Wahlberg Black had once greeted guests. In the magical painting of the Roman Gardens, Remus Lupin was waking, sitting up and then seeing Harry standing outside a strange looking window, he approached and began to shout.

Snot stayed out of the prisoner's sight and cast a silencing spell as the werewolf beat on the canvas, and finally sat down on a nearby bench.

When he appeared to be somewhat calm, Snot removed the silencing spell and Harry said, "This was the only way that I could let you live Professor Lupin. You're a spy for the Dark Lord Dumbleshit…"

"Don't…"

Harry held up his hands, "You can't put me in detention now professor and I am your jailer. At least attempt to be polite."

"Don't insult Dumbledore."

Harry shook his head and asked, "Over the next few days, I hope you'll think about a couple things. You've not asked how this happened, not asked for parole, not questioned my motives, or anything. You've merely chided me for calling your lord and master a childish name."

Lupin did appear to be thinking about the boy's words and began to ask more pertinent questions.

"Where am I? How do I get food and drink? Where do I sleep? What happens when there's a full moon?"

"You're in Roman gardens from ancient times. I'll have an elf bring you food and drink every other day but he won't talk to you. Sleep on the ground. Sirius and I both slept on the floor for ten years or more so that won't kill you. And the… your prison remains in daylight all the time I believe, so there're no full moons to force you to transform and tear up the forest."

Lupin frowned. "How long will you keep me here?"

"I don't know. Until I decide what to do with the Dark Lords… Why does Britain have so many of the bloody bastards?"

With that, the painting floated up the stairs and into the attic of No.12 to stand behind an old chest of drawers.

}}**{{

Harry was furious that Remus Lupin, his DADA professor and Sirius's last friend from Hogwarts, would be willing to betray Sirius to help Dumbledore regain control over the boy-who-lived. Without thinking through the possible consequences, he'd let Snot capture Remus Lupin in a magical painting from which the wizard couldn't send messages or escape.

He'd made certain Remus was trapped inside the canvas – even with the silencing spell, the werewolf banged on the canvas for many minutes before giving up.

This marked a turning point for Harry; he'd never tried to overtly force anyone to do anything before today. Snot had coached him in his power as a future lord in Magical Britain and Lady Longbottom had helped Harry and Neville to begin to understand their future responsibilities.

Dumbledore's interference with Harry's life had been endured until this moment but the betrayal by Remus Lupin at Dumbledore's command changed something inside Harry; Sirius had been crushed and this might very well set back his godfather's recovery.

Wandering into the kitchen, Harry was pleased when Dobby appeared with a tray with coffee and potions for Sirius, and hot chocolate for the teenager.

"Thanks Dobby, please ask Sirius to come down," Harry asked the elf who nodded happily and popped away. Just a minute or two later, the 'dogfather' came through the kitchen door, still in his wizard form but looking neat and trim. He'd taken the time to shower and change robes, letting Snot cut his hair and shave off his beard, leaving just a trimmed moustache.

"What did you do to get rid of the wolf?" Sirius asked when he sat across from his godson. He was prepared to hear that his last friend was dead but was pleased to learn that Harry simply let Remus walk out the front door of the house but captured him with a charm from Snot that sent the werewolf into the painting of the Roman gardens. Sirius stared blankly for a moment but then snorted and laughed aloud.

"Bet he didn't see that coming!" the wizard said as he laughed and then sobbed. "You're a true marauder getting the patsy to walk into the trick. I wish your Dad could see…"

After another moment, Sirius asked, "Can Moony get out?"

Snot appeared and said, "I locked the canvas, Mr Sirius Black. Mr Wolf can't get out and no one else can get in."

"Does he have air to breath?"

"Yes, and Mr Harry Potter says to send him food and drink. He'll sleep on the ground but that's better than on the cold floor at Azkaban."

Sirius seemed to be lost in thought though he did drink coffee and his potions before eating a substantial number of biscuits while he wandered about in his mind.

Snot turned to the boy-who-lived and explained about a new discovery, "Mr Harry Potter, I have found another marvellous painting here in the Black home."

The elf was bouncing up and down in excitement something unusual for the usually staid Snot. "It's a Nundu in Africa and the creature appears to be very ill tempered to not have had anyone to chew on for the last twenty years."

"I remember that painting," Sirius said. "My mother bought it at an auction and used it to intimidate the portraits of our ancestors in the house. She'd buy portraits and… Well, it was pretty gruesome."

"Okay, that's a part of the family that's not so great," Harry said imagining an entertainment that included watching a magical creature destroy a wizard or witch even if they were inhabitants of magical paintings.

**))**((**

After five minutes of silence, Sirius began speaking again. "Remus was on a fact-finding mission. He mentioned that Dumbledore expected him back at Hogwarts tonight."

The wizard grew little agitated before he said, "Harry, we've got to run."

"What do you mean? Run where?"

Sitting down Sirius explained, "Lupin must have told Dumbledore the floo address here before he appeared on the street. This isn't just a happy occurrence – Remus was sent to spy on us."

"Yeah, that's basically what he said," Harry replied.

"When Remus doesn't return tonight, tomorrow Dumbledore's head is going to appear in the floo and ask where Remus is. If not tomorrow, the day after at the very latest."

The wizard flushed as he said, "So we'll have to run! We can hide!"

"No, Sirius. Then Dumbledore can claim that you've kidnapped me," Harry said. "What we do is go to Privet Drive for the rest of the spring break."

"Your relatives are there," Sirius stated. "They won't appreciate unexpected freaks coming to visit."

"They're in Egypt with Dudley on an educational field trip," Harry responded. "Come on, let's go pack and get out of here."

"Egypt?" Sirius asked as they began to climb the stairs.

"And Snot can glamour himself to look like Uncle Vernon while Dobby can do Aunt Petunia but we don't let him talk much," Harry explained. "I've been there the entire vacation and have no idea what 'Great Mall Place' is."

"Grimmauld," Sirius said to correct Harry and the boy just grinned.

"Grim what?"

Sirius nodded and said, "But Dumbledore or whoever comes will find me at Privet Drive!"

"You're a pet dog named Whitefang," Harry argued.

The voice of Wahlberg Black interrupted Sirius and Harry as they climbed the stairs, "I'll tell them where you're hiding you great disappointment! I'll tell that old poofter Dumbleshit where you are and what you did to his werewolf! I'll tell it all! I'll wake every portrait in the house and send them out into Magical Britain to tell your secrets to everyone!"

Sirius staggered and sat on the stairs as Harry raised his wand but the portrait sneered at the boy.

"I'm a special painting mudblood," she told Harry. "The picture frame can't be removed from the wall and I can't be silenced with a spell. Once you leave my house, I'll use my remaining magic to call Phineas Black from his bloody portrait in the headmaster's office at Hogwarts and tell him the whole story. He'll report to Dumbledore where you've gone and about you being a flea-bitten dog!"

Snot appeared in front of Harry and cast a privacy spell around them so that only Sirius could hear them.

"Mr Harry Potter, the new painting might solve this problem… permanently."

Harry made a sour face and glanced back toward Mrs Black, who merely sneered and drug her finger across her neck to indicate that Sirius would die soon.

Taking a deep breath, Harry asked Snot, "Can you release the Nundu into the painting with her?"

"Yes, Mr Harry Potter," Snot said. "I'll bring the painting to landing, you give extra magic for my spell and the Nundu can leap into this painting of the world's greatest bitch witch."

Wahlberg continued to sneer though her eyes narrowed just a bit; the boy looked calmer by the second. The elf disappeared but popped back loudly making everyone turned toward the landing where the elf stood precariously balancing the large picture frame with the Nundu. The creature was awake and pacing back and forth, snarling and seeing prey before him.

'_If Kreature was here, I'd have him feed Cantankerous Black's portrait to my pet,'_ she thought.

With the painting propped against the wall at the top of the stairs, the Nundu looked close enough to touch if anyone was ever so foolish. Wahlberg watched as the boy reached out and touched the elf; the elf snapped his fingers and suddenly one the wall of her portrait opened onto the African Plain. Staring at the opening, the portrait froze, not understanding what she was seeing. But the predator wasn't frozen; in seconds after the portal appeared, the Nundu smelled Wahlberg's perfume, and her delicious fear. It leapt into the new painting.

Sirius and Dobby looked away though there was no hiding from Wahlberg's horrid screams, brief as they were. Snot watched carefully, and Harry watched, wincing occasionally but not turning away. If he could order the 'death' of a portrait, he could at least watch it being done.

Once the Nundu had eaten its fill, the creature returned to the painting of the African plain to nap until it needed another meal. Snot closed the opening between the paintings but left the painting hanging on the wall near the mutilated portrait that once was Wahlberg Black; left of the late Mrs Black were a few smears of blood on the walls that would fade away.

Without more words, Sirius transformed into his large black dog, and the elves popped the two wizards to Privet Drive. Snot and Dobby returned to Grimmauld Place to make it look as if no one had been there in years and to move everything their wizards left behind.

Once Dobby finished returning the house to disorder and dirt, the painting with Remus Lupin was moved to the Room of Requirement with the painting holding Peter Pettigrew. Snot remained at Privet Drive, making certain no wizard came looking for sign of Harry Potter or an escaped mass murderer.

Lupin knew he'd been moved very soon after the first move to the attic, but he had no point of reference. Nothing was said about other paintings holding pieces of the Dark Lord's soul and neither marauder could see each other or those canvases.

When she woke up, Hermione was very confused. This wasn't home and it wasn't her dormitory room at Hogwarts. When the nurse came in to take her temperature and check her blood pressure, she understood this was a hospital of some kind but she didn't remember being sick.

She looked for her wand, her books, and her trunk, but none of those things were in her room and the nurse told her that when her parents arrived, they would explain.

"Mum! Dad!" she called out when they walk through the door. Hermione rose from her bed to run to them for hugs. Her mother and father both cried which confused Hermione for a time. Then her father explained about the time-turner while her mother pulled a new dressing gown from a bag for Hermione to wear over her hospital gown.

Glancing fearfully at the nurse who smiled and left the room, Dan explained to his daughter that this private hospital dealt with magical folk - muggleborn and otherwise - who couldn't be treated on the 'other side of the looking glass'.

"Why are you quoting from Alice in Wonderland?" she asked.

"Because it seems that's where you've been for almost three years," her mum replied while stroking her daughter's hair.

Shortly thereafter, Dr Harris and Mrs. Tonks were introduced and while Hermione wanted to disagree with the doctor's evaluation, her parents forced her to read the medical reports and the magical medical reports.

"Why didn't somebody tell me about getting extra sleep and extra food?" she asked Mrs Tonks.

"Did anyone besides the headmaster talk to you about the time turner?"

"No, but Professor McGonagall knew; she's the one who spoke to my professors and told them that I was being allowed to take multiple classes."

"And did she counsel you on how to use the device?" asked Mrs Tonks.

"No," Hermione admitted.

After Dr Harris and Mrs Tonks left, Hermione cried once again and this time her mother held her close, rocking her gently and telling her how much they loved her.

"What are we going to do?" Hermione asked. "I don't know that I want to go back there… Everything is so strange this year with Dementors and last year with people disappearing or dying."

))**((

The next day, Snot glamoured himself as Vernon Dursley and used a taxi to arrive at Privet Drive from the train station. He carried two suitcases inside the house and made a production of walking his dog that evening where neighbours could see him and wave.

"Work called me back from holiday," he explained. "I insisted that Petunia and Dudley stay. Besides this lets my nephew come home from school for the holiday."

"Oh, the dog… we're just pet sitting for a friend."

Harry had a good time flying on his broomstick around the castle the next morning but he came out at lunch to wake Sirius, feed him and send him as Whitefang into his painting for an afternoon chasing sheep, pigs and chickens, running through the woods, and finding a spot in the warm sun for another nap.

The potions Snot fed the wizard each day – as a man or as a dog – were healing him slowly. Yesterday's mental trauma set him back but a quiet week with his godson would make it up.

++)**(++

SCENE Unwelcome Visitors

In the middle of the afternoon, while Harry pretended to polish Aunt Petunia's silverware, someone rang the doorbell and then knocked on the front door at No.4 Privet Drive. Dobby was in the kitchen practicing being Petunia Dursley and counting the Dursley china while humming a disco song playing on the radio but when the doorbell rang a second time, Dobby popped away silently.

When Harry opened the door, he instantly recognized Madam Bones who was accompanied by a dozen Aurors and one strangely dressed witch – she resembled that nice witch from some movie with a wizard though Harry couldn't remember the character's name.

"Mr Potter, I am Amelia Bones, Director of the DMLE…"

"I know you," Harry interrupted with a polite tone in his voice. "Your Susan's aunt and you had to come to Hogwarts a lot last year."

"Well, yes," Amelia replied. "But I'm not here about Susan this afternoon."

"Did something happen at school? Like last year?" Harry asked with real concern creeping into his voice.

"No, nothing has happened at Hogwarts."

When Director Bones made no effort to provide additional information, Harry's expression turned serious and he did not invite her into the house.

Glancing over her shoulder Bones ordered, "Shack, Tonks, check out the house."

"Wait!" Harry said but the Aurors pushed their way past him; inside, the young woman moved immediately into the kitchen. The other Auror thundered up the stairs and Harry heard every door being thrown open and the rooms and closets searched. The Auror only glanced into Harry's room and assumed it was the owl's room when she screeched and flew at him, buffeting him out of the room and the door closing behind him.

"Hedwig!" Harry cried and moved toward the stairs when he heard his owl screech. Then he turned back to Bones and angrily spat, "You can't just storm into a muggle home and do whatever you want!"

"We can when we have a credible report of an escaped mass murderer!" Bones responded, close to losing her temper with the boy. Children were supposed to be meek and obey Aurors!

"A mass murderer?" Harry said. "What are you…"

Suddenly looking defeated and dropping to sit on a stair, Harry whispered, "Dumbledore did this."

Dropping his head into his hand, the boy continued saying, "He told me he'd make certain the Dursleys resented my coming home for the holidays."

"What do you mean, Mr Potter?" asked the strangely dressed witch, stepping closer.

Harry sighed as the Aurors inside the house continued searching through the closets and drawers, pulling up the carpets and moving the furniture looking for trap doors.

"The headmaster objected when I signed up to spend the spring holiday with my relatives. He told me that I'd be sorry," the boy said, glancing at the mess spreading throughout the house.

Harry looked up and told the two witches, "Let me guess, Dumbledore told you that my godfather lured me out of Hogwarts. And he sent you to find Sirius Black and 'rescue' me."

While Bones said nothing, the strangely dressed witch said, "That's mostly what he said. He also said that one of your professors, Remus Lupin, came to London yesterday to talk to you and your godfather but the man didn't come back to the castle last night."

"Professor Lupin?" Harry asked, shaking his head negatively, and his face reflecting confusion to hear that information. Suddenly, he rose from the stair and cursed as Amelia Bones moaned and rubbed her temples.

"How dare you try to read my mind! Director Bones, Dowager Longbottom will speak to you on the floor of the Wizengamot about your lack of manners when dealing with the Heir of an Ancient and Noble house."

"And I shall make certain that Heiress Bones and our peers learn that the Bones family has been taking lessons from Albus Bloody Dumbledore!"

"Mr Potter!" the other witch called his name sternly while Bones walked back to an Auror for a headache potion.

"Forgive me… this is not a good!" Harry told the witch as he motioned to the house around them. "The house is trashed, the headmaster of my school created all kinds of problems for me today, and then a friend's aunt attempts to rape my mind while I stand at the front door!"

"Director Bones!" the witch commanded the other woman to return before she cast a spell to raise a privacy screen. Harry and the Aurors couldn't hear the words but they could see the woman backing Amelia Bones off the walk and into the grass.

Now, a ministry owl appeared bearing a notice that Harry Potter was detected using magic outside of Hogwarts. He would be required to attend a disciplinary hearing to determine if he would be expelled, his magic bound, and his wand snapped.

Suddenly Harry remembered the character from the movie as something like 'Brenda, a Good Witch'; just as she lowered the privacy spell. Bones immediately approached Harry to apologize for the intrusion of the house and of his mind.

"And will I be expelled because the Aurors cast spells here?" he asked as the strangely dressed witch took the letter.

Again, this witch called an Auror closer and when the man hesitated, she snarled, "I declare this to be a matter of Magical Child Welfare and commandeer all Aurors onsite to my order until released!"

"No!" Amelia groaned. "That requires a review by the Minister!"

The witch sneered, "And Amos Diggory will be appalled to hear how you've run roughshod over 'Harry Potter' at his relative's home in the muggle world."

When Amelia nodded and motioned the Auror forward, the witch handed the letter to him, and clearly told him to return to the ministry, and tell 'that woman' in the monitoring department that it was the DMLE and MCW casting spells around Surrey and they would be leaving shortly.

"Tell her to expunge Mr Potter's record and be certain to remind her that the last time she ignored my orders she lost three teeth, her hair and one of her boobs!"

The Auror apparated away quickly as the witch sent the other Aurors to ensure none of the muggles had seen anything. Then she turned to Amelia Bones and said, "Make this house good now!"

The two Aurors from inside were called and began to report privately but the witch's wand smacked them both with stinging hexes. The young Auror, turned with anger in the face until she saw the look on the other witch's face.

"Mother!" protested the young witch who was trying to ignore the strangely dressed witch.

"We will be having words when you get home tonight Nymphadora Tonks!"

"I work for Director Bones!"

The strangely dressed witch leaned closer and hissed, "Magical Child Welfare! You work for the ministry and MCW takes precedence over almost everything when I say it does!"

"You…" the witch turned pale and the Auror, a tall dark-skinned man remained silent.

Amelia attempted to defuse the witch's temper by saying, "We'll put everything to rights before the muggles get back!"

"Was there any sign of the mass murderer Sirius Black in the house or around the neighbourhood?" the witch asked coldly.

"No ma'am," the two Aurors reported.

The older witch hissed at the Aurors, "Get away from here Amelia and if I ever hear that you or your Aurors come here without a credible excuse, I will help Lady Longbottom rip strips from your hides in front of the full Wizengamot before you're all demoted to duty in Azkaban!"

No one moved for a moment, until the witch shouted, "Now! Go!"

Amelia Bones and her Auror team vanished from Surrey instantly. In his haste to apparate, one wizard lost his right leg and it landed on the ground. Just a moment later, a team mate returned to grab the leg and the vanish.

"What happened to his leg?" Harry asked incredulously.

The witch said, "When a witch or wizard is nervous and uses apparition without a clear visual, parts can get left behind."

"But he lost a leg…"

"St. Mungo's can reattach up to a full day later," she said. "He'll be back at work tomorrow."

Harry stood at the door as the witch cast a spell with her wand and was suddenly dressed in conservative muggle clothes.

"But…"

"The weird costume is to amuse children. When Bones invited me to join her investigation of a possible case of child abduction, and I heard what Dumbledore reported, I came here in my costume to make Bones and the Aurors discount me."

Relaxing just a bit, Harry said, "Please come in. Uh… excuse me, I have to check on my owl."

The mysterious witch stepped inside the house, her wand casting spells that put everything back to rights, folding all the table linens and putting them away, cleaning the kitchen, and then she joined the boy upstairs where she repaired each room, door, mattress, closet, the clothes, and the ensuite.

Her mouth in tense line, she said, "I will tear a strip from Amelia for this for certain. If they were looking for an escaped convict so why did they search the underwear drawers?"

After meeting Hedwig, Harry and his still anonymous guest left the owl to her afternoon nap before going downstairs where the witch formally introduced herself.

"Mr Potter, my name is Andromeda Tonks, Director of Magical Child Welfare," she said. "I have wanted to meet your relatives and check on you since 1981 but Dumbledore blocked every move and said you were safe and well."

"My relatives don't like magical people," Harry replied. "It's okay now that I'm out of the house for most of the year."

Letting the matter drop for now, Andromeda said, "Everyone thinks that Sirius Black is after you. But he was… Sirius is my cousin, and I don't believe he'll hurt you. If he does contact you, make certain he sends me a letter."

"Your cousin?"

"Dumbledore has done wrong by you, Harry Potter. You could have come to live with my family – I am Sirius's first cousin, I was your father's third cousin, and my husband has proved to be Frank Longbottom's second cousin through a squib cast out of the Longbottom family."

"Are you in the Black family?"

"I hope to be back in the family as soon as Sirius becomes Lord Black," Andromeda said. "Now, let's talk about you."

After a discussion of his health, his education, and his plans, Harry believed he'd convinced the woman that he was merely visiting his relatives for the holiday.

"The house is put to rights," Harry said. "We're having a nice holiday and I'll come back to Hogwarts in another eight days."

"If Sirius does contact you, urge him to turn himself in," Andromeda said. "He's too important for the ministry to kiss."

"Really? You trust the ministry?" asked Harry.

"No, but I trust the nobles to look out for each other," the witch replied.

"Has anyone seen Sirius Black?" Harry asked earnestly.

Shaking her head, Andromeda explained, "There are rumours reporting him in Brighton, London, Calais, Paris, and even New York City."

"But not in Surrey!" Harry said. "The headmaster is crazy. Why does everyone think he's so wonderful?"

Andromeda nodded, "People get sucked into his cult of personality where they think he's infallible. My daughter…"

The woman's eyes narrowed as she remembered other things and she rose.

"I must get back to the ministry and talk to Bones. I think she got played by Dumbledore in more ways than one."

She cast more spells and a few spots in the house suddenly sparkled and her face grew even more sour.

"They'll be patrolling Azkaban if I have anything to say about it!"

"Why? What?" asked a confused Harry Potter.

"The Aurors left listening spells and monitoring spells in a muggle home. Even the muggles can see them when they're activated!"

Taking a deep breath, Andromeda Tonks said, "I understand that you can generate a corporeal Patronus."

Harry grinned and explained, "My Patronus is a house elf on bicycle. He knocks down and runs over Dementors. They tried to mess up the Quidditch matches and my Patronus ran over three of those things and two of them never got back up again."

"I hadn't heard that news," Andromeda confessed. "But what I wanted to tell you is that your Patronus can carry a message to anyone. When the Patronus appears…"

Harry was pleased to learn the additional simple spell to have the Patronus carry a message. "I'll make sure to teach everyone."

"Can any of your classmates cast the Patronus?" Andromeda inquired, really interested in the progress of students at Hogwarts.

Nodding Harry said, "Several of the older students and one other person from my year, Neville Longbottom."

"Augusta must be over the moon," Andromeda said with a smile. "Now if that mass murderer does appear and try to kidnap you, send your Patronus to me. As the case worker assigned to you, I can turn out every Auror on duty and be here in two minutes!"

"Thank you, Mrs Tonks," Harry said as the witch walked to the back of the house.

She asked, "May I use your backyard to leave. That'll give me a good reference point to send Aurors to the front and back of the house if ever needed."

Shrugging, Harry said, "Sure."

He opened the back door and watched Andromeda Tonks step down the steps and vanish without any pops or spins.

++)**(++

At the ministry, Andromeda Tonks stormed into the DMLE and marched to Amelia's door.

"The Director is in a meeting!" the Auror at the outer desk called as he attempted to intercept the formidable witch from MCW.

"Wonderful!" Andromeda shouted as she blew the office door open and found Amelia Bones behind her desk with Auror Kingsley Shacklebolt and Andromeda's daughter, Auror Nymphadora Tonks, sitting in front of her desk.

"Bones, we got played by Dumbledore and these two minions!"

"What?" Amelia said as Andromeda explained about all the listening and monitoring charms that she'd found cast all through the house.

Andromeda sneered as she turned to her daughter and the other Auror to ask, "You put monitoring charms on the boy's underwear! What were you hoping to hear from his shorts?"

Looking at her two Aurors, Bones hissed, "Explain this to me and don't leave out your orders from Albus Dumbledore!"

_)&(_

SCENE Not Lord Black

Dr Harris left the Granger family alone for a time after the long discussion. Promising to return the next day, Mr and Mrs Granger said farewell to their sad daughter. On the drive home, they made their decision.

"We're leaving," Mrs Granger announced and her husband just nodded.

"Separately," he announced. "You and Hermione get out this week. I'll sell the house, the furniture, and the business. As soon as there's a good contract in place, I'll join you."

"I'll miss you."

"I'll miss you too but Hermione is more important," her husband replied. "It won't be more than a week if that offer from three months ago is still valid."

"Will you talk to that man from MI-5?" Jane asked referring to a visitor they had this morning before leaving to come to the hospital. The man expressed a need in Her Majesty's government for all the information available on the 'other side' here in the country.

"First chance I get. They may help with the sale of our things," he said.

"Tell them everything… anything they want to know."

"It's strange," Dan said after a moment of silence.

"What is?" she asked.

"When we first met those people and learned about wizards and witches, I thought it might be a wonderful thing for Hermione. And now I really do understand why people used to hunt them down and kill them."

The next morning, Mr and Mrs Granger thanked Dr Harris and Mrs Tonks for their help with helping rescue their daughter. With a dozen brochures for schools across the US, Hermione was distracted in the final meeting with Mrs Tonks. The only interaction between Andromeda and Hermione was the girl asking her to deliver two letters for her; one to her head of house and one to her friend, Harry. Mrs Granger had a letter also, addressed to Minerva McGonagall that Andromeda promised to deliver at the same time as the other letters.

"Hermione and I will fly out in two days, once we pack proper clothes for the weather in New England," Mrs Granger said.

"And I'll follow as soon as I settle up here," Mr Granger said.

Andromeda and Dr Harris wished the family well and watched them leave the private hospital.

"Thank you for your good work," Dr Harris told Andromeda. "You've helped reduce the number of suicides and deaths among muggleborn more than any witch or wizard I've known."

"Which is terrible," Tonks said.

_))&&((_

It was the second day after Hermione's release that she boarded a plane with her mother and flew to Boston, Massachusetts in the US. They vanished into the general population and no official thought of them again.

Dan Granger was pleased with the offer on their dental practice – a group had approached the couple over a year ago about the purchase and until now, they'd debated postponing the sale until Hermione was out of school. Now, the dental practice was sold in days.

An estate agent convinced Mr Granger to sell the house furnished, with dishes, pots and pans included. The only items packed for shipping included photograph albums, a set of antique china from his wife's great-grandmother, and two oil paintings.

On Friday, Dan Granger disappeared and only reappeared on Sunday morning, walking down the street with a cup of coffee. He'd spent a weekend giving MI-5 agents all of the information he had on Magical Britain, including his daughter's letters, her books, and their saved copies of the Daily Prophet. Wandering around the neighbourhood that day, he said goodbye to several friendly people and talked about settling in New England where his wife and daughter waited for him.

On Monday morning, the moving company came for the items to be placed in storage until they were notified where to ship them. Then Mr Granger waited two days just to make certain nothing and no one came around the house looking. He sold the cars on Wednesday and on Thursday morning, left in a taxi for the airport.

&&^^))((^^&&

For the two days following the bruhaha at Grimmauld Place, Sirius was quiet and recovered his previous state-of-mind. Harry and the elves fed him his favourite foods, read from his favourite books, and Harry took Sirius flying every day in the magical painting of the castle in Austria. The quiet house on Privet Drive was soothing to the nerves of both wizards – the betrayal from earlier in the week was not forgotten but it would fall into the past soon enough.

On the fourth morning, at breakfast in the kitchen of Privet Drive, Sirius made an announcement, "Harry, I am considering by-passing the marvellous Padfoot and having you become Lord Black… before the week is over."

"What? Why?" asked Harry as Snot and Dobby drew close to listen as well.

"If you become Lord Black, Dumbledore can't touch you. You can demand a trial for me and if you produce Peter Pettigrew, I will be exonerated."

"Idiot," Snot said with an angry expression on his face. "Padfoots be idiot! Not thinking!"

Both wizards turned to the elf, first because of his tone of voice, but also because Snot very seldom slipped back into the slip-slap vernacular of the house elves. Snot continued to frown and Harry drew strength from his elf to stand up to his beloved godfather.

"Sirius, I don't want to be a lord," Harry explained while staring his godfather in the eye. "I want to get the hell out of Britain when I turn seventeen and live like a regular person."

"What do you mean? You're a wizard!" objected Sirius.

"Yeah, I'll always be a wizard, but outside Britain, wizard lives are much better! Wizards everywhere keep the Statue of Secrecy but when their children are educated young, there's little need for obliviation spells and cover-ups."

Motioning toward his elves, Harry added, "The info that Snot found says that outside Britain, wizards have telly, phones, refrigerators… everything that muggles have. They have cars, shop at the Tesco, and eat take-away like everyone else."

"Magical Britain is stuck in the past and I don't want to spend my whole life sticking my head in a fireplace to talk to someone."

Sirius sat down and tapped his fingers on the arm of the chair as he considered his godson's argument.

"There's something you don't know," Sirius told Harry.

"What?" the impatient teen replied.

"If you don't want to be stranded here… forced to remain in Britain, you have to leave before you're seventeen."

"Huh?" Harry was caught off-guard with his godfather's response.

"If you're in Britain on your seventeenth birthday, they'll cast a geas on you that makes you stay here – want to stay here."

"Who's 'they'?" asked Harry.

"The ministry does it. The geas makes important nobles 'stay' in Britain. Dumbledore made certain it was cast on all four of the Marauders on our seventeenth birthdays. Before then, we talked about fleeing to France, Australia, even America."

"Remus turned seventeen first and was hit with the spell. Lily wanted to leave as soon as she heard about it… But then James was caught and I helped him convince her stay to in Britain."

"Then you were born and she begged James to let her take you away…" Sirius was in tears at this point. "But Dumbledore told us again and again, that we had to stay to fight the darkness."

Defeated, Harry sat on a nearby sofa and said, "So, I'm trapped too?"

Shaking his head, Sirius looked up, wiped his eyes and nose on his sleeve and said, "No, not yet. You'll just have to get out – get away – before you turn seventeen."

"But how? I can't leave until I'm an adult!"

Nodding his head, Sirius said, "And technically, you're an adult as soon as you pass three of your OWLS."

"What?" Harry asked, his head popping up. "What do you mean?"

Sirius nodded. "After I graduated, I heard that a few of the smarter muggleborns figured it out while I was at Hogwarts. They knew that they were tied to Hogwarts until they completed their OWLs, but then they 'jumped ship' and ran to other schools to complete their magical education; the Yanks and Aussies welcomed them."

"I know three muggleborn witches who didn't come back after getting their scores on their OWLs but the professors won't talk about it," admitted Harry.

Sirius frowned and stated, "I guess you're not interested in being Lord Black or Lord Potter."

Snot spoke up, "Sirius Black, you are Mr Harry Potter's godfather. You don't want to be Lord Black but you cannot – you will not – put that burden on my Mr Harry Potter! If you try, I will lock a three-legged Whitefang in the magical painting with the Nundu!"

"Snot!" Harry cried but Dobby nodded his head in agreement as Sirius blanched seeing the look in the eyes of the elves. Then his own headed nodded.

"Your elves are great marauders, Harry!"

_}++{_

After loud discussions that involved frayed tempers, sulking (by Sirius and Snot), and promises of payback for Sirius, Snot, Harry, and even Dobby (who usually was quiet and obedient) the four of marauders devised a plan for protecting Harry and Sirius from Dumbledore for a while.

"It'll cost me a pretty knut to get the goblins to go along with this, but it'll be worth it when I'm free," Sirius said.

Quietly, Snot carried a letter to Sharpknife, the account manager at Gringotts for the Black Family Vaults. After serious but polite discussions between the elf and the goblin, and consultation with Ragnock, Director of Gringotts Bank, Sharpknife sent a reply that set an appointment for Sirius Black to meet with the account manager at 3:00PM the next afternoon.

With Ragnock's permission, Dumbledore's informant in the bank, Sowsbreath, the account manager for the Potter Family vaults, sent word of the appointment to the headmaster. For most of the last decade, Sowsbreath profited personally from the illegal arrangement where Dumbledore acted as the guardian for Harry Potter – Dumbledore paid the goblin a percentage of every withdrawal from the trust account.

The payoffs lasted as long as the headmaster had the vault key. For the last year and a half, Dumbledore paid Sowsbreath for information out of his own pocket because Harry's vault key had been lost at the Burrow.

++)**(++

SCENE 3:00 PM Gringotts Bank London

With the information from his spy in Gringotts, Dumbledore informed the DMLE which led to a heated argument with Director Bones who didn't want to be sent on a fool's errand again. But as the hour approached, the Director and her Aurors made their way to Gringotts with a special warrant from Minister Diggory.

When Amelia and the Aurors entered the bank just after 3:00PM, she approached a teller with the warrant and asked the goblin to allow them to enter the bank and search for the escapee, Sirius Black. It took ten minutes to get the floor manager to speak with the DMLE director, who asked her for the specific location she wanted to search.

The Director of the DMLE told the floor manager, "Our information is that Sirius Black is presently with Sharpknife, the account manager for the Black family."

This goblin grunted, folded the warrant, placed it into his pocket, and then nodded. "Your source was mostly correct. Come along and we'll go to Sharpknife's office."

Amelia signalled the Aurors to follow but the floor manager, named Ironstream, laughed and said, "You may pick two Aurors to accompany you and they can't be ones who believe that Albus Dumbledore's winds are perfume."

Three of the party behind Amelia frowned while the other five grinned. Two of the five were selected and the others were ordered to wait in the lobby for Amelia's return.

As soon as Amelia and her escort disappeared through the doors leading into the bank, two of the remaining Aurors broke ranks, ran out of the bank and apparated away.

Nymphadora Tonks remained with the other Aurors – she'd been threatened with dismissal if she put Dumbledore's plans ahead of her orders again. Kingsley Shacklebolt and Emmaline Vance just crossed a line that might end their careers.

**))^((**

When Director Bones arrived in Sharpknife's office, she was formally greeted by Director Ragnock – the equivalent of the Minister for Gringotts London – along with twenty of his Goblin Guards who were armed to the teeth with blades of all kinds as well as magic. Ragnock introduced the witch to a second goblin, Sharpknife, the account manager over all the Black family vaults, and then to Sirius Black, the supposed mass murderer and Azkaban escapee who looked remarkably healthy after years in prison and months on the run.

Her hand itching to grab her wand and wrap the wizard in chains, it took a full minute for Amelia to notice that Black offered her a cage containing a rat that continually squeaked and ran round the confined space.

Sharpknife brought her attention back to him by saying, "Now that the introductions are complete, Director Bones, would you be so good as to send for the Minister, his Undersecretary, and the Chief Scribe of the Wizengamot?"

After a glance at Ragnock, Sharpknife said, "You might also want to send a trusted Auror to the Ministry Archives and to 'demand' a copy of the transcript for the trial of Sirius Black from November 1981. The file doesn't exist but we must follow the guidelines."

"What is this, Director Ragnock?" asked Amelia, still confused by this turn of events.

"In the interest of a stable economy, continued collection of taxes for the Ministry, and justice, Gringotts has gathered together Sirius Black and…"

Pointing toward the rat in the cage, Ragnock continued, "…and the missing piece of the puzzle; the rat animagus Peter Pettigrew. He is not dead and he answers many questions about what happened the night 31 October 1981."

Bones stared at the goblins, Black and the cage as Ragnock concluded, "With appropriate witnesses, the DMLE can question Black and then bring or dismiss all charges against him."

"Will you let me take him from the bank if I arrest him?"

"If you truly believe he is guilty after questioning him with veritaserum in our presence, Gringotts will deliver him in chains to you and your Aurors on the steps of the bank."

))**((

Sirius remained calm on the outside but only because of the calming draughts he continually sipped. Sharpknife and Ragnock agreed to this arrangement in return for fifty percent of whatever penalties he collected from the Ministry. The goblins didn't realize they could have asked for one hundred percent – Harry's elf made gold out of gravel now on a weekly basis and they would never be short of cash again.

))**((

Everyone in the lobby of Gringotts froze when they heard Amelia Bones hiss, "They did what?"

The fury in her voice was unmistakable. She'd returned from the hallways that led to offices in the bank with many orders for her remaining Aurors only to find that two of her guards were missing. Her outburst was unexpected but when the senior Auror explained that Vance and Shackleford left the lobby 'as soon as you were out of sight', her temper boiled over.

Turning toward the two Aurors who'd come with her from the offices in the bank, she sent them to Minister Diggory with the urgent request to come to the bank with his Undersecretary and the Chief Scribe, the wizard who kept all formal records from court cases and Wizengamot rulings.

"Ask Minister Diggory to bring some sealed veritaserum with him," Amelia told them before she ordered Auror Tonks to go and 'plunder' through the records office for the official or unofficial transcript of any trial held for Sirius Black in November 1981, or at any time for that matter.

"It may be misfiled by accident or on purpose," she told the young witch.

Then she turned to the remaining five Aurors and frowned, "Davis, Cooper, track down Kingsley and arrest him for deserting his post. Lock him up and don't let anyone talk to him. Marshal and Reeves, the same for Vance; arrest her for deserting her post. Lock her up and don't allow anyone to talk to her, either!"

"Boss, that leaves you without any guards…"

Shaking her head, Amelia Bones said, "I am inside Gringotts. Unlike at Hogwarts, I believe I'm safe here."

Before Davis and Cooper could leave the bank, Kingsley Shacklebolt walked into the lobby with Albus Dumbledore. Motioning for Tonks to be on her way, Bones stared at the headmaster for only a moment before she asked, "Albus, why are you here?"

"Now Amelia, you're about to catch Sirius Black. How could I not be here to advise you how to proceed," Dumbledore said with the grandfatherly twinkle and smile.

"Arrest Kingsley Shacklebolt," she ordered Davis and Cooper.

"Whatever for?" Albus asked.

"Desertion of his post while on duty," Amelia replied. "Punishable by execution."

For just a second, Kingsley Shacklebolt considered running but Davis, Cooper, Marshal and Reeves each had drawn wands pointing at him.

"Hands up, Shack," Davis ordered before Cooper removed all known wands, portkeys, rings, and potion bottles. With his hands fastened behind his back, Kingsley Shacklebolt was marched out of the bank and taken away to a DMLE cell by portkey.

"Amelia, the boy was helping me. You can't execute a wizard for doing his duty," Dumbledore said.

"And is the 'Code of Dumbledore' above the Rules of Engagement for ministry Aurors?"

Bones looked at her team and said, "Marshal and Reeves, I think I know where you'll find Vance; head for Privet Drive. Be careful and don't harm any muggles or Harry Potter…"

"I think I should leave," Dumbledore said but he turned to leave only to find a pair of armed goblins standing behind him with spears pointed at his midsection.

"Oh no, Dumbledore," Bones argued. "How can I allow you to miss the hearing for Sirius Black that you so kindly arranged? You can be a silent witness."

"A hearing? What do you mean 'hearing'?"

Stepping to one side and motioning with her hand, Bones pointed back toward the hallway that lead to Sharpknife's office.

))**((

SCENE Another Privet Drive Afternoon

Harry's first plan for the afternoon of his godfather's adventure in Gringotts was to fly around the castle in the magical painting but then decided his heart wouldn't be in it. Instead, he pretended to read his charms textbook while his mind kept imaging terrible scenarios at the bank.

Snot was with Sirius but hidden to allow the elf to pop the wizard away from the DMLE and goblins if things turned sour. Harry and Dobby were the only people at No.4 Privet Drive and for once the little elf left the radio turned off. (Dobby loved muggle music – disco, rock, heavy metal, rap, and classical).

Harry lay on the bed in his room when suddenly Dobby appeared in the room, threw the boy's invisibility cloak over the wizard, and then silently popped away.

The noise from what sounded like someone busting in the back door filled the house and there were footsteps pounding through the kitchen and then the lounge. With the cloak hiding his shape, scent, and the sounds of his footprints, Harry ran across the hall to the ensuite and stepped into the tub, leaving the shower curtain open. He stood in the corner as the loud footsteps climbed the stairs and began searching the bedrooms.

Closet doors were thrown open, the beds were upended, and a woman's voice called, "Harry Potter! This is the DMLE! Come out! You're in danger!"

The bathroom door was opened and a wand pushed the shower curtain back but the blonde head hardly looked in Harry's direction before it vanished and apparently went into his bedroom, upending the bed and opening the small closet.

She called out again, "Potter! You're in danger here! We've got to get you back to Hogwarts right now! Come out, boy!"

A witch in an Auror's uniform thundered back down the stairs and rummaged through the rooms on the ground floor and then went out the back door. But Harry remained where he was; curious as he was to know what was happening, the rules that Snot has impressed on Harry and Dobby were that until Dobby could determine that the threat was gone, Harry would hide-in-place.

Now there were shouts from the back yard of Privet Drive, as the witch exchanged spell fire with someone. The noise indicated that the witch made a dash back into the house, ran through the kitchen and then the lounge again, throwing open the front door, only to meet with a spell chain of some kind that threw her back against the stairs.

Harry heard two male voices discussing the arrest of 'Emmaline Vance' and the mess she'd made of Privet Drive without finding Harry Potter.

"This is the correct house – I was here the other day with Director Bones," one voice said.

"Did it look like this when you left?"

There was silence from the first wizard and the second one said, "Well, don't worry about it. Let's get Vance back to the ministry and this can be someone else's worry."

"What about the kid?"

"He wasn't here. Vance threw her career away for nothing," the second one said before they popped away with their prisoner.

))**&&**((

Andromeda Tonks sat at her desk, reviewing the last report concerning Hermione Granger. The medical report from Dr Harris traced the cause of the girl's mental and physical state to the misuse of the time turner.

'_Dumbledore would claim the muggleborn just didn't follow the directions if I question him,'_ she knew. _'And then the girl would have an unfortunate accident over the summer.'_

Mrs Granger and Hermione were already gone from Britain and the Grangers demurred from sharing their destination or plans. Andromeda had three letters to deliver once Hogwarts was back in session – letters from the girl for Harry Potter and Charity Burbage, and a letter from the mother for Minerva McGonagall.

Once his wife and daughter were gone, Dan Granger vanished for a full day and Andromeda was concerned when none of her spells could find the muggle. It was as if someone was hiding him from magic. He returned but refused to discuss the missing day. Andromeda knew he was selling their home, their furniture, and business. Their lives in Britain were over.

As she worked, another envelope addressed to her, appeared on her desk. After quickly checking the letter for charms, traps, or portkeys, Andromeda opened and read the letter. Once finished, she slipped the paper into a pocket and rose from her desk without grabbing her outer robe or bag, only taking her wand. Then she ran to the nearest apparition point and vanished.

))**((

"Harry!" Andromeda called from the open front door of No.4 Privet Drive. "Harry! Are you okay?"

The boy appeared at the top of the stairs, folding a magical cloak and placing it into a pocket. Sighing with relief, Andromeda climbed the stairs and looked him over. "Are you hurt in any way?"

"Just scared," he replied.

Looking him in the eye, Andromeda Tonks said, "Harry Potter, as your case worker with MCW, I authorize you to use any and all magic at your disposal the next time any wizard or witch invades your home!"

"Thank you," he said as he suddenly sat on the floor.

"Are you sure you're not hurt?"

Shaking his head, he said, "Just losing the adrenalin."

"Don't tell anyone about the cloak!" she insisted.

"I don't have any idea what you're talking about Mrs Tonks," Harry said as once again, Andromeda set about repairing the Dursley home. The two of them reached the downstairs just as a ministry owl flew in the back door and landed on the table.

Hedwig followed the bird through the door and she attacked this intruder with the fury of a mother protecting her only chick in his nest. The ministry owl screeched, dropped the letter and fled back out the back door.

"That woman will never learn," Andromeda said, picking up the letter. Asking for a brio to write a reply, Andromeda's message was brief, **'MCW! You're interfering with DMLE and MCW again!'**

"I need an owl," she announced to the air.

"Hedwig can carry that," Harry offered.

Andromeda snorted. "I believe your owl would tear through the ministry's wards, rip the hair off five or six witches, chalk up the lifts, and then destroy the equipment for monitoring underage magic if she went anywhere near the ministry today."

With a crooked smile that resembled his godfather's face, Andromeda said, "As satisfying as that might be, I'd hate to write that report. I think we'll wait for a ministry owl to appear."

After the witch completed the clean-up of the house while Harry explained what happened, a brown owl flew into the backyard but would approach no closer than the picnic table. Stepping outside, Andromeda noticed Harry's owl sitting on the roof and hissing at the intruder.

"Take this to the department monitoring underage magic and then fly away as fast as you can!" Andromeda told the owl as she tied the letter to the owl's leg.

))**((

Amelia Bones and Amos Diggory consulted with the Chief Scribe for ten minutes after Nymphadora Tonks returned and reported that there was nothing on any legal proceedings against Sirius Black – not even a record of his arrest.

"You'll have to question Barty Crouch about this," Amos said. "But there's no file with anything on sentencing, commitment to Azkaban… Nothing with anyone else's signature."

They both looked toward Dumbledore who ignored them, pretending to study a magical painting of the Roman Senate when wizards ruled all of the Roman Empire.

A Patronus in the shape of a swan appeared through the walls of Gringotts and approached Amelia. The voice of Andromeda Tonks was heard by every person in the room reporting that once again, the Aurors from the DMLE had trashed the muggle home of Harry Potter's guardians.

"They're gone now but I will discuss this with you, the minister, and Dumblesquat before the end of the week. I'm going to give you all fines that'll make the goblins grin with glee!"

))**((

From his spot beside the goblins, Sirius Black rose and asked, "What's that about Harry? Is that my godson she's talking about? Is he okay? What happened?"

Before anyone could stop him, Sirius Black was across the room, grabbing Dumbledore by the beard and punching the older wizard.

"What did you do to Harry? Where is he?"

It took four Aurors to pull Sirius off Dumbledore and two healers; one to calm the marauder down and the other to repair the headmaster's nose. The goblin healers left the blood that had streamed across the headmaster's bright orange robes.

))**((

SCENE Questioning Black

Under the close watch of Ragnock and his Goblin Guard, Amelia Bones took a vial of veritaserum from Amos Diggory's hand and verified that it was still sealed with the brewer's stamp. The Chief Scribe was busy writing every word down as was an Auror.

"This vial of veritaserum has never been opened, or tampered with," she stated for the record and allowed the goblins to inspect the vial without letting it leave her hand.

"We agree," Sharpknife agreed.

"Proceed," Ragnock ordered though Albus Dumbledore attempted to object to the proceedings.

Minister Diggory turned to the headmaster and asked, "Exactly what are you objecting to here, Dumbledore? Do you think the goblins will lie about Black's actions? They weren't there…"

"Dis is a matter than must be settled before de Wizengamot!" Dumbledore insisted, his nose and jaw still swollen.

Now Amelia frowned and said, "No, you're wrong headmaster. Mr Sirius Black was never given a trial – something you should have remembered because you attended every single Death Eater trial in 1981 as Chief Warlock. This is a DMLE matter of questioning a suspect, not a convicted escapee."

Sharpknife grinned, rubbing his hands together gleefully, and announced, "If this hearing goes as we think it will, Mr Black will sue the ministry for unlawful imprisonment for ten years – no, twelve years. All those beautiful galleons to add to the Black vaults! Imagine what such a payment will do to your budgets, Chief Warlock."

Amelia administered the veritaserum to Sirius and he sat still as the director of the DMLE asked him a list of predetermined questions that established his innocence in the deaths of James and Lily Potter, the muggles and Peter Pettigrew.

"If Black didn't kill Pettigrew, who did?" asked Minister Diggory.

"No one killed him because he's still alive!" Sharpknife announced and pointed toward the cage that held a chittering rat. "Apparently, Mr Pettigrew is a rat animagus and he's spent the last ten years as a rat."

"No! Dat's not possible," Dumbledore exclaimed. "If he'd been in his form dat long, he'd begin to be…"

"Resemble a rat?" suggested Amelia.

Again, Dumbledore tried to object and this time, Minister Diggory shouted, "Sit down and shut up! You're supposed to be a silent visitor! One more word and I'll ask Ragnock to feed you to the dragons!"

Ragnock frowned and said, "Minister Diggory! What did our dragon ever do to you that you'd ask the poor creature to eat this…" The director of Gringotts glanced at Dumbledore, shook his head, and continued, "…this stringy, hairy, cantankerous, old man?"

"I will not remain here and be insulted!" Dumbledore shouted as he began to move toward the door. He had to get to Potter before Black was freed.

"Sit down and shut it!" Bones shouted, her wand forcing Dumbledore into his chair, chains wrapping around him ten times, and a gag appearing in his mouth.

With Dumbledore silenced and unable to distract the goblins or Aurors any longer, Peter Pettigrew was forced back into his true form and while his face and hands did resemble those of a rat, he still answered Amelia's questions clearly and completely. The man cried and begged for mercy once the truth serum wore off, but Sirius Black only stared at the man with a growing storm in his eyes.

"Pettigrew must be tried by the Wizengamot," Diggory announced. "Bones, if you'll put him in cuffs that keep in 'human' form and get him to the Ministry, I'll arrange for Pettigrew's trial tonight. He can be convicted and sent through veil before midnight."

"We can't give him veritaserum again for twenty-four hours," Amelia reminded the minister.

Amos nodded and said, "But what member is going to object to viewing the minister's memory of the earlier testimony? They can't challenge my memory as being faked or prejudicial."

Thus, it was that after twelve years, that Sirius Black was cleared of all charges, Peter Pettigrew was tried, convicted, and executed for his crimes, and the Ministry of Magic recognized that Harry Potter would live with his godfather from that day forward.

))**((

SCENE End of Day

At Privet Drive, with everything put to rights, Harry and Sirius spent the evening walking around the neighbourhood with his godfather using Polyjuice to look like Vernon. They walked over two streets to meet an agent and look at a house for sale.

They would stay within the boundaries of the blood wards of Privet Drive but give the Dursley's their privacy.

"And the entire neighbourhood has had an amazing uplift in prices in the last two years," the agent was telling them. "Magazines and newspapers come here every week to photograph the gardens and flowers."

"That'll make Dobby happy," Harry whispered as 'Vernon' asked for a copy of the listing and the asking price.

On the walk home, he asked Harry, "Is a half million pounds a lot of money? The house only had three bedrooms and two baths."

"I guess it is," Harry said. "But Snot's got so much money squirreled away, he could buy the whole block."

"Well, let's go with just one house," Sirius said. "I wouldn't want Snot or Dobby to wear themselves out."

Hopeful that the day would finally end, Amelia Bones returned to her office after Pettigrew's trial and execution. Immediately after the conclusion of the hearing at Gringotts, Dumbledore returned to Hogwarts and missed the opportunity to plea for mercy for the murderer. Without Dumbledore there to preach forgiveness for evil deeds without consequence, the proceedings went quickly. The trial for Peter Pettigrew was closely monitored to be correct and proper, but the prisoner's guilt was established, with the sentence pronounced and then carried out.

The moment she walked through the doors of the DMLE department, Bones was reminded by an aide that she had to deal with two Aurors who deserted their post while on duty.

"Bring them to my office," Amelia ordered before calling an elf for a tea tray for herself.

When her office door opened to allow Emmaline Vance and Kingsley Shacklebolt to file in, she motioned for them to stand at attention in front of her desk.

"We're here – a second time for you Shack – because you put Dumbledore's orders ahead of mine," she said to open the one-sided conversation. "You've both been excellent Aurors but now I don't trust you… You disobeyed my orders to wait in the lobby at Gringotts, Shack ran to collect Dumbledore and bring him to get his nose broken, while Vance attempted to abduct a student from the home of his muggle relatives leaving the place in shambles. You're going to be fined by MCW for that, Vance."

With a sour look on her face, Bones said, "And most egregious, you deserted your post while on duty!"

Amelia's words were loud enough to be heard over the entire DMLE office; Nymphadora Tonks sat quietly at her desk, thankful her mother had yelled and lectured her earlier in the week – here was proof positive that Dumbledore's minions were left unprotected when he was 'done' with them.

"Each of you is suspended for sixty days without pay. At the end of that time, if you've kept your noses clean and out of anything that Dumbledore's stirring up, we'll see about putting you back on rotation."

"For now, get out of my office, get out of my department, and get out of the ministry!"

))**((

That evening, Vance and Shacklebolt received owls from Dumbledore inviting them to come to Hogwarts for breakfast the next morning. Dumbledore found himself in need of a pair of substitute professors for DADA for the last two months of the school year – there still was no word or sign of Remus Lupin anywhere.

))**((

SCENE Back to Hogwarts

While Sirius dealt with the goblins and family matters, Harry headed back to school. Godfather and godson planned to talk each day through a set of mirrors that Sirius found in the Black family vault. He'd not put on the Lordship ring yet but Sirius was recognized as the head of the family by Gringotts, by the ministry, and most importantly, by magic.

The Dursleys returned to Privet Drive to find the house spotless with everything in its place. They shared curious expressions when the neighbours asked about multiple trips back and forth to Egypt but generally ignored the stories.

The trip on the Hogwarts Express wasn't too stressful – Burbage and Flitwick rode as chaperones and Patronus charms regularly prowled the train cars. Harry couldn't find Hermione anywhere and he promised himself to write her that night to apologise for running away from her that day at the train station.

Once they were all in the Great Hall and just about settled in for supper, McGonagall approached Harry and told him that immediately following the meal, the headmaster wanted to speak with him. The boy looked surprized but nodded his agreement just as the doors to the hall opened once again. Harry grinned when he recognized Andromeda Tonks walking into the room.

"Madam Tonks, is there a problem?" Dumbledore asked as the formidable witch approached the staff table.

"Headmaster Dumbledore, I'm delivering some mail, as the final act in my care for a magical child in my role with Magical Child Welfare."

"Which child?" Dumbledore asked quickly, thinking it would be Harry Potter.

"That's confidential information until I have completed the delivery."

First, Andromeda handed a form to Minerva McGonagall along with a brio for her to sign the acknowledgement of a student withdrawal. Reading the form and glancing up to find the cold eyes of a daughter of the house of Black staring back at her, McGonagall signed the notification without question or comment.

As she returned the form, Andromeda handed Minerva a letter. Then she took two steps to the right and handed a second letter to Charity Burbage, who took the muggle envelope and opened the letter. As she read the letter from Hermione Granger, the Gryffindor head of house sighed and folded the letter before placing it into a secure pocket to read again later.

Now, Andromeda crossed the hall again to hand the last letter to Harry Potter. He was confused until Tonks explained in a quiet voice that only the students sitting around Harry could hear, "It's a letter from your friend Hermione Granger. She's transferring to another school but wanted to send a 'good-bye'."

Harry stared at the letter for a moment before he took the envelope and asked, "Is she okay?"

Andromeda smiled and said, "She will be."

Then she walked back to the head table and announced, "Headmaster Dumbledore, one of your students was granted permission by Magical Child Welfare for immediate transfer to another school – any magical school – for health reasons. Effective five days ago, Hermione Granger is no longer a student at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."

On this same day, Dan Granger met his wife and daughter at a hotel in San Francisco. Hermione was in study mode with several different books on magical schools in the US. Her father handed her a large brochure on the only school in Australia and told her they'd been leaving a false trail into the US to throw off anyone attempting to follow them.

"But how can I…"

"When you are grown, you can contact Harry Potter again if you want to," Jane said. "He's not likely to forget you."

"It's all sad," Hermione told her parents. "He gets left by everyone."

The general consensus among the purebloods was that the school was better off without the mudblood. The half-bloods made note of the news to share with their parents. Several muggleborn hoped to discover what happened and wondered if they could duplicate the problem to get an 'early release' from their contract with Hogwarts.

McGonagall didn't read her letter until much later that evening. She never discussed what Mrs Granger wrote but she did take a stand against the headmaster more often, attempted to curb any pureblood snobbery, and encouraged the other heads of house to speak honestly with their fourth and fifth year muggleborn students.

Before she could leave the Great Hall, Harry intercepted Andromeda and invited her to sit and eat with him. "I hope you could go with me and Professor Burbage to the headmaster's office after dinner."

Did you get in trouble already?" Andromeda asked. "You've not been back an hour yet."

Harry shrugged, "Dumbleshit always…"

"Language!" Andromeda interrupted. "That's not acceptable language for a member of the House of Black!"

"Yes, ma'am," Harry apologised and surprised several classmates. "Dumblesquat always calls me to his office to discuss some mysterious problem that he claims that I created."

"He does, does he?" she asked. "I do think I'll stay."

"Dumblesqaut?" asked Neville from the other side of Harry.

"That's her name for him," Harry explained.

SCENE Where's Lupin?

Dumbledore sighed as a crowd gathered in his office; he'd hoped to dismiss Minerva and interview Harry with only his selected professors in the room. Fawkes flew to the back of the chair where Harry stood and the boy scratched the phoenix underneath her wings. Andromeda Tonks stood on one side of the boy-who-lived and Charity Burbage stood just behind him to be closer the phoenix. Minerva moved around to sit in the chair with Fawkes perched on the back of the chair.

Professor Aurora Sinistra, Emmaline Vance, and Kingsley Shacklebolt stood in the corner usually reserved for Severus Snape; the potions professor refused to participate in this 'witch hunt' as he characterized it earlier in the day.

"Now Harry, I want you to tell me all the details of your interactions with Professor Lupin over the holiday," Dumbledore said after nodding to each of the witches that surrounded the boy.

Looking up from the phoenix, Harry's face showed surprize at the headmaster's question but he didn't meet the wizard's eyes. Then he shrugged and replied, "He was on the express when we went down to London. I didn't see him on the train coming back."

Sinistra interrupted, "He's lying! The boy knows what happened to Remus!"

Harry looked at McGonagall and asked, "What happened?"

Minerva explained simply by saying, "Professor Lupin disappeared the night the express took everyone to London. No one has heard from him."

"So, why are you asking Mr Potter?" asked Andromeda.

Professor Sinistra spoke up again as she pointed at the young wizard. "The headmaster sent Remus to London to follow Potter. He was supposed to find him at some house in London with Sirius Black…"

Dumbledore attempted to placate his astronomy professor by saying, "Now, Aurora, that's not what happened…"

"Yes, it is! You intimated that Potter was with Black! That Black kidnapped him and you sent Remus to find them! But Remus never came back and never sent word! He told me before the Hogwarts Express left that morning!"

Tonks looked at the two Aurors in the room, and said, "You two; you were at the home of Mr Potter's relatives during the holiday. Did you find ANY sign of Sirius Black in the house?"

Shacklebolt and Vance remained silent and McGonagall stood up, leaned over the desk and told Dumbledore in a cold voice, "Tell them to answer the question."

Dumbledore grimaced but motioned the two Aurors to answer and both admitted there wasn't any sign of Sirius Black at the house.

"I didn't see any sign of Potter there either," Vance said.

Tonks smirked and said, "You were arrested by your fellow Aurors for breaking into a muggle home and ransacking it. I found Mr Potter and cleaned up the mess before his muggle relatives came home."

Arching an eyebrow most elegantly, Andromeda turned to Dumbledore and said, "I shall send you the bill for having to clean that home twice in the same week, Dumbledore. Do you think I'm your personal house elf?"

Burbage asked, "Are these two are the DADA professors for the rest of the year? Isn't that your plan, Headmaster?"

"Yes, with Professor Lupin's absence, we have to have qualified…"

"Mr Potter won't set foot in their classroom," Burbage said immediately. Motioning toward the two Aurors, she continued, "It wouldn't be safe – this holiday mess cost these two their jobs and they'll be looking for payback."

Andromeda nodded, "I agree."

Feeling threatened, Dumbledore said, "Wait now. I'm headmaster at this school, and I decide who teaches and who attends what class."

The visiting witch grinned as she replied, "Then I shall withdraw Mr Potter from Hogwarts for his own safety and take him with me tonight. Tomorrow I am meeting with the new Lord Black and I can introduce Harry to his godfather properly."

"No, you can't put Harry with Sirius!" insisted Dumbledore. "He has to stay – he must stay with his relatives in the muggle world."

McGonagall frowned and said, "I'll give Mr Potter the last six weeks of DADA instruction and he will not be approached by Shacklebolt or Vance for any reason."

Dumbledore frowned but was forced to agree; Andromeda insisted that he speak the words to make certain that even 'magic' understood his intentions.

SCENE End of Third Year

McGonagall proved to be an excellent instructor in the defence class and she provided the first dummy that Harry had as an opponent in a fight; he reflected on the differences between duelling and fighting as Poppy Pomphrey healed his bones, cuts, and bruises after each class.

Albus Dumbledore attempted one more time to squeeze the money out of the ministry to pay for the Tri-Wizard Tournament to be held at Hogwarts. When he made his pitch to the Wizengamot, he forgot about the new representative for Lord Black in the chamber.

Narcissa Black rose and requested permission to ask the headmaster two questions.

"Certainly Miss Black, ask your questions," Amos agreed.

Turning toward Albus who felt a shiver run up his spine, warning him to run before this predator sank her claws into him, the headmaster managed to hold still.

"Headmaster Dumbledore, in this Tri-Wizard Tournament, what was the death toll among the participants and guests at the last such tournament when it was held outside Munich in 1758?"

"I don't recall reports of any deaths, Miss Black," Dumbledore replied.

"Really? Apparently, you failed to research the history of this tournament properly then headmaster," Narcissa said before she turned to the minister and the general members of the Wizengamot. "All three of the contestants died in the second task as well as over two hundred observers."

"I'm certain that report exaggerates," Dumbledore tried to say before grumbling among the members shut him up.

Waving her wand and sending copies of the report to every member, Narcissa said, "The stamp on the report is from the ICW, an institution, you insist that we follow."

"Well, this bears some consideration but we can be assured…"

"Now, my second question," Narcissa said to interrupt Dumbledore.

"I have here, a report signed by you, that includes your estimates that the costs for the tournament will exceed ten million galleons over the course of the next school year," Narcissa said, lifting a second paper that was magically duplicated and distributed to each member. "With the recent penalty of twelve million galleons charged against the Wizengamot for the illegal incarceration of Lord Black for twelve years – an incarceration that you allowed to occur – where should the Wizengamot find the funds to pay for the Tri-Wizard Tournament?"

No one would offer the second to Albus's motion to fund the tournament at Hogwarts. Minister Diggory did obtain an agreement to pay for the Hogwarts Express to carry the students from Scotland to Beauxbaton in the south of France in the middle of October.

"Wait, how is that possible?" asked more than one member of the Wizengamot. "We can't use magic to move the Express across the Channel! Too many muggles would see it!"

Diggory smiled and distributed pictures of a recent muggle accomplishment. "In May this year, the British and the French muggle governments completed a marvellous piece of engineering. They dug a large, deep tunnel between England and France, underneath the Channel. This tunnel is called the 'Chunnel' and there are parallel train tracks. The morning that the students leave Hogwarts, they will floo to London's Kings Cross Station to board the Hogwarts Express and travel through the Chunnel to France and then on across the country to Beauxbaton."

"A tunnel? Underneath the ocean? How does that work? Like a goblin tunnel?"

"It is not like a goblin tunnel at all," Diggory said. "I shall lead a group tomorrow morning on a trip to France for the day. You'll see that the tunnel is lighted with fresh air all along the fifty-four kilometres."

"What's a kilometre?" asked one old member.

In the excitement over the muggles digging a tunnel that would be the envy of all the goblins, the Wizengamot forgot Dumbledore's proposals completely.

}}**{{

With exams behind them, the students at Hogwarts packed their trunks and counted the hours until they could take the Hogwarts Express back to London. The Dementors remained above the castle until the last student was gone for the year.

Harry, Neville, and their friends in Hufflepuff expected that they were going to be high in the class rankings this year. Harry sent a letter to Hermione through Andromeda Tonks but he'd not heard back yet. Neville admitted his grandmother was leery of Sirius Black but promised to have Harry come visit until she relaxed about Neville spending too much time around Sirius.

Using the floo to enter Hogwarts on this last day of the school year, Director Bones, with Minister Diggory as her witness, informed the two DADA instructors she would recommend that they be terminated rather than allowed to return to the Auror force.

"You put your trust in someone who will throw you aside now," Bones told them while she stared at Dumbledore. "His fingers have been burned trying to dip into an orphan's vaults so he has no spare galleons."

Dumbledore grew uncomfortable with this conversation – he was cutting expenses left and right – letting reliable minions fall to the wayside because he'd been cut off from the Potter trust vault.

'_I have to have new robes for Beauxbaton if we're going to be there for most the school year!' _he rationalized in his mind.

"He'll bring us back to teach DADA next year!" Emmaline Vance declared.

"Think about what happened to the last two DADA professors," Bones suggested. "We think that giant snake ate Lockhart last year, and then Lupin vanished in April."

_)***(_

As the Hogwarts Express arrived at Kings Cross in London, the last shadows from Harry's third year at Hogwarts seemed to fade away. Standing there with the parents and siblings for all of his classmates, Harry grinned to find Sirius Black waiting with a big grin on his face too. The boy-who-lived leapt into his godfather's arms, laughing and crying at the same time.

_)***(_

Table of Contents Contents

The Magical Portrait Charm 1

Chapter 3: Third Year 1

SCENE A Sirius Summer 1

SCENE Sirius Recovers Inside Painting 7

SCENE News from Neville 10

SCENE Gold and Doing What's Right 15

SCENE Shopping with Hermione 18

SCENE Hogwarts Tantrums 25

SCENE Tragedy on Hogwarts Express 27

SCENE Patronus 42

SCENE Quidditch 44

SCENE Sirius Returns 45

SCENE Christmas Third Year 55

SCENE Spring Holiday and Dumbledore's Worries 59

SCENE Spring Holiday Patronus 67

SCENE Grimmauld Place 72

SCENE Unwelcome Visitors 111

SCENE Not Lord Black 124

SCENE 3:00 PM Gringotts Bank London 132

SCENE Another Privet Drive Afternoon 138

SCENE Questioning Black 145

SCENE End of Day 149

SCENE Back to Hogwarts 152

SCENE Where's Lupin? 156

SCENE End of Third Year 160

Table of Contents 165


	4. Chapter 4

The Magical Portrait Charm

This Harry Potter story was written for fun. All rights belong to the wonderful lady (JK Rowling) who gave the world Harry Potter to read and enjoy.

Story Line: Tragedy strikes during the summer and Harry finds some justice with help of the portrait charm. He uses totally muggle means (a power unknown to Tom Riddle) to destroy the Dark Lord's soul jars. Then he has a calm year at Hogwarts because Dumbledore and the seventh-year students are at Beauxbatons for the Tri-Wizard Tournament. Through out Fourth Year, Harry's working toward his ultimate goal.

One more time, the elf's name is intentional.

Chapter 4: Fourth Year

)**&&**(

SCENE Greentree Lane

The summer between Harry's third and fourth years at Hogwarts began with happy news; the day that Harry returned from Hogwarts, Sirius took him to their own house within the blood wards based on No.4 Privet Drive, a full street away. Using muggle transportation to hide from anyone tracking apparition, they went to another train and rode out of London and into Surrey. From the small train station in Little Whinging, they took a muggle taxi to their new house; No.5 Greentree Lane was a neat house with a lovely garden.

Dobby's gardening efforts were neatly maintained around the neighbourhood and strengthened the wards, making it impossible for Deatheaters or any other wizards to find Harry Potter. The Dursleys missed the 'gift' Harry left for them at the end of the summer but otherwise, didn't waste a moment thinking about the 'boy'.

Harry had his own room with a private ensuite. The bed was firm with new sheets, he had a desk for school work, bookcases, and a window that looked out across the backyard.

)**&&**(

SCENE Grimmauld Place

When it was time for supper, Sirius called Harry downstairs and led him toward the fireplace where a cheery fire burned.

"What's up?" Harry asked.

"Another surprize for you," his godfather replied as showed Harry how to scoop up little bit of floo powder and cast it into the flames. He pulled Harry close and as the flames turned bright green and he clearly said, "Grimmauld Place."

Then he leapt into the flames with Harry in his arms. After rolling and twisting in the flames, Sirius and Harry landed on a cushioned rug, with the boy on top of his godfather.

"What was that?" Harry asked loudly while Sirius laughed.

"That was not how to ride the floo network," Sirius admitted. "But it's always fun to introduce the floo to muggleborns like that!"

"So, there's a way to ride the floo without landing on your face when you come out?" asked Harry.

"Of course, there is," Andy said from the doorway. "Ted and I will show you later so that you don't have a reason to push Sirius into the flames without floo powder."

"What happens if you don't use the powder?" Harry asked innocently while staring at Sirius promising payback.

"Fire! Flames! Burns! Screams! Arrghh!" Sirius teased and Harry tackled this godfather back to the rug again.

Finally arriving at the dining room, Sirius re-introduced Harry to Nymphadora Tonks, Andy and Ted's daughter, as though he'd never met her in the past. And then he introduced his godson to his cousin, Narcissa Black. The lovely witch wore a black armband that meant she was in mourning.

"It is a pleasure to meet you Miss Black," Harry said with proper pureblood manners, taking the lady's hand and bowing his head over it. Sirius smirked but stopped when he caught the glare from Andromeda.

Narcissa made the appropriate response and added, "I understand you knew my son, Draco."

Startled just for just a moment, Harry said that they had been in the same classes and they'd played Quidditch against each other.

)**&&**(

During the last six weeks of the Hogwarts school year, Dobby and Snot cleared Grimmauld Place of the dirt, trash, and dark spells that made it gloomy and unwelcoming. They scrubbed as only happy elves could do, threw new paint on the walls, beat rugs until they were clean or in ruins to be replaced, polished furniture, and made the windows gleam.

There were new furnishings in the lounges along with family antiques such as the dining room suite. Narcissa had one elf, a personal dresser, but the elf was very old and not very powerful. Snot mentioned the need for more 'help' at Grimmauld Place, but Sirius ignored the head elf though Harry told Snot to proceed as needed with locating additional elves.

)**&&**(

Snot had complete autonomy with the bottomless bag of gold now following Harry's guidelines and ignoring Sirius's requests for cars, liquor, and galleons to visit establishments late at night after Harry was asleep.

Harry worried that Sirius was not back to 'normal' but Snot assured his young wizard that Sirius would continue to improve. Harry's presence helped and the other members of the Black family had even more influence over his godfather.

"We keep him out of Diagon Alley and the Ministry," Snot confided to Harry. "He was unpleasant with Lady Longbottom one day because she didn't yell at Director Bones about attacking your mind that day at Privet Drive."

"Lady Longbottom didn't take my side?"

Snot shook his head.

)**&&**(

All the magical paintings from Grimmauld were stored in the attic and locked away by Sirius except for one special magical painting of two beautiful ladies that Sirius bought when he was fourteen. The two ladies were beautiful and they would 'undress' to entertain Sirius. (Snot insisted the two ladies remained fully dressed while Harry was awake and moving around the house – otherwise they'd be put to sleep again.)

)**&&**(

The frame from Wahlberg's portrait was broken apart and used to light the fires in the floo room on four sequential mornings.

)**&&**(

After that first visit to Grimmauld Place, Harry inquired about the painting of the Nundu. When he heard that it was stored in the attic at Grimmauld, he asked that it be moved to the small library at Greensleeves.

)**&&**(

SCENE Narcissa Black

The other Black cousin who became part of his life was more difficult for Harry to handle. Her name was Narcissa Black and she was Andromeda's sister; her husband had been Lucius Malfoy and Draco had been her son. Harry was smart enough to keep his encounters with Draco in the past because the pretty lady was very happy to be back with her sister, and with her cousin, Sirius.

The story heard at the supper table was that after the mysterious death of Lucius Malfoy, the Malfoy family in France worked through Gringotts Paris to seize the family vaults in London and throw Narcissa out with nothing. Sirius Black came to his cousin's rescue – and his Gringotts manager negotiated a settlement – the French Malfoys got the vaults in exchange for the Malfoy Manor and the surrounding lands. After reaching the settlement, Sirius paid Narcissa almost a million galleons for the 'house' and all rights to the house, the contents and the surrounding land.

Dobby proved to be worth his weight in gold after Sirius took over the manor. The elf knew where the warding stones were located, and the books in Lucius's private library that detailed the ward schema. This allowed Sirius to simply add more wards to the manor and remove it from anyone's ability to see except for himself and Harry (and Harry's elves).

"This is a valuable piece of property, Harry," Sirius told his godson. "When I drop the wards in a few years and sell it to the muggles, it'll go for fifty million galleons easy."

"Fifty million?" Harry exclaimed.

"Yep, you're going to be rich when you escape from Magical Britain!" Sirius swore.

"Sirius, what have you done about an heir?" Narcissa asked at the dinner table one night. With Andromeda, Ted, Dora, and Harry present, the entire family was available for the discussion. "Should we find a bride for you?"

Sirius shook his head and said, "This is family business so no one can speak of this with outsiders."

Each adult at the table had to verbally acknowledge Sirius's command before he continued.

"I'm sterile. Exposure to the Dementors will keep me from ever fathering any children," the wizard said without much regret in his voice. "Any kid of mine would have been likely to inherit my mother's insanity anyway."

"There's Harry," Dora said, nodding her head at the boy seated beside Sirius.

"My godson would make an excellent Lord Black, but…" Sirius grinned, "He'll put Lord Potter before Lord Black and we need someone who will put the Black family first."

He turned to Andy and asked, "Any chance of you birthing a boy for us?"

"No," Andromeda admitted. "The healers say that when I carried Nymphadora, the magic was so strong, there was damage to my womb. I'd never carry another baby to term."

"And Dora?" asked Sirius.

"I… I don't know. I don't want to have a son just to see him become Lord Black."

"But you will accept a marriage that your family decides to forward?"

"Yes, Lord Black," Dora said. When Sirius brought the Tonks family back into the Black family, the family magics broke the compulsions that had been placed on Nymphadora Tonks by Albus Dumbledore. She'd been shocked at how differently she felt afterwards.

Harry still felt strange about Sirius, Andy, and Ted picking a stranger, a wizard named Andrew Prewitt, to marry Dora in early August. Apparently, he was a distant cousin of Molly Weasley, but from a branch of that family in Ireland.

Narcissa frowned and said, "So who are you going…"

Sirius looked at his cousin and said, "I am going to turn to you, Narcissa. Your healers report that you are fertile and strong. That flop Lucius was unable to father more children than your son but you can bear several. And you asked me to allow you to marry and build a cadet branch, like Dora."

"A line-continuation contract, then?" she asked.

He shrugged, "I thought we'd ask Ted here to provide the seed."

"What?" exclaimed everyone but Harry who hid his face in his hands. Dobby popped into the room with calming potions for everyone except Sirius and Harry. Sirius got a tumbler with just a finger of whiskey and Harry got a cup of hot chocolate.

When the women and Ted were calm again, Sirius explained his reasoning.

"Theodore Tonks has proven to be fertile and with good magical genes that helped Andy birth a daughter with tremendous metamorphic abilities – more than anyone has ever had before in the Black family. Dora's abilities are one reason why we wanted another wizard from a thrown-off line like the Prewitts."

"Remember, Ted's grandfather was a squib that the Longbottom discarded like an empty potion bottle. Any child of his can claim a support vault from the Longbottom estate if needed."

"We won't need…"

"No, but it'll stick in Augusta's craw and choke the old bird if Dora makes it known… and any other children who come along."

Dora looked slightly ill as she asked, "Does that mean that my Dad as to… you know… with Aunt Narcissa?"

Harry turned red, Sirius broke out in laughter, and Andromeda swore to choke Dumbledore someday. She spit as she said, "What is he teaching at that 'best school' in the world?"

A few moments later, Andy explained to her daughter and her 'nephew' that a healer would use a potion to inseminate Narcissa with Ted's semen. "The potion was developed to allow couples to select the sex of the baby."

The young witch and younger teenage boy both still hid the faces behind their hands as they tried to control their expressions.

SCENE Bellatrix Lestrange

It was the second week of vacation, that Sirius came home to Greentree Lane with an interesting look on his face. He collected Harry and they used the floo to go to Grimmauld Place where Dobby prepared supper for the Black family.

Narcissa had been shopping in the muggle world again while preparing to spend the next year pregnant and then caring for her new child. Sirius promised to buy a new nanny elf, as well as an elf to care for Grimmauld Place. (Snot was interviewing elves available and he was slowly making his choices).

Andromeda, Ted, and Narcissa paid close attention to the balances of the Black family vaults – they'd been ignored for almost fourteen years but after just two months under Sirius's directions, the vaults were filling again. Gringotts was pleased to receive the bags of gold that Snot produced each week for Harry's trust vault and for the various Black vaults. Each member of the Black family had generous allowances and only Narcissa used hers to buy a new wardrobe and begin furnishing a nursery.

At supper that night, Sirius waited until after the final dishes were cleared away, to clear his throat and say, "I have sad news to share. At Gringotts this morning, I declared the marriage between Bellatrix and Dickhead Lestrange to be annulled. They failed to produce any children as required by the contract."

Narcissa frowned but kept her opinions to herself – Bellatrix never wanted a child and seemed to hate all children. She remembered ordering the nanny elf to hide Draco every time Bella visited Malfoy Manor.

"Then I recalled her dowry and disowned her from our family."

"Disowned her?" asked Andromeda, remembering how it hurt when the Black family magic left her years before. She was fearful of the next words from Sirius.

"The goblins verified that Bellatrix died this afternoon," he told the witch's two sisters.

Harry swallowed and said, "Aunt Andy, Aunt Cissy, I'm sorry your sister died."

"Thank you, Harry," Andy replied and Narcissa nodded though she remained silent.

"I didn't make the decision lightly to disown her," Sirius said. "And there was another development."

"What else?" Ted asked, his hand clasped tightly in Andy's.

"In her vault, Bellatrix's vault, the goblins found another horcrux," Sirius said as he nodded toward Harry who sat back in his chair.

"That bastard Riddle inflicted three of his soul jars on our family," Narcissa cried. "No wonder Bella was insane! He was trying to kill off the House of Black!"

Blinking back her tears, Andy turned to Harry and asked, "Can you kill him now? Finally kill him?"

"There's one more; the last one," Harry replied. "But this one will be stored away safely before I go to sleep tonight."

++%%++

SCENE Neville Longbottom

It took several unanswered invitations, for Harry to decide something was wrong with Neville. He talked about it with Sirius at breakfast one morning.

"I invited him to come ride bikes three times and there's been no answer," Harry said. "Nothing, and that's not like Neville."

"Did the family plan to go on vacation?" Sirius asked. "Maybe they're out of the country."

"Neville's grandmother won't go anywhere; Neville says that she's always worried that his dad or mum might wake up while she wasn't there."

That afternoon, Harry sent Snot with an invitation, but his elf returned almost immediately with an angry expression on his face. "They… they attacked me! The Longbottom elves attacked me!"

"What?"

"The Longbottom elves said that I was not welcome at the manor ever again," Snot said. "And that any letter that Mr Harry Potter sent would be destroyed."

Now truly concerned for his friend, Harry shared the news with the whole family at dinner. It was the kind of thing that he and Snot worried would set Sirius off without Andy, Ted, and Narcissa's presence to control his reaction.

"That's strange," Ted said, though Narcissa and Andromeda shared a look and then glanced at Sirius.

"Is it politics? Something our votes have done to alienate Augusta?" Sirius asked. Harry sighed; his godfather's cousins balanced his 'wild' side with a broader, saner view.

"The Black family has been a supporter of Minister Diggory and any of Lady Longbottom's proposals since 1992," Narcissa replied. "No one understands the power she's used with growing influence since that time."

Harry frowned and decided that after tonight, Snot would withhold gold payments that bribed people to vote for Lady Longbottom's proposals.

"Is it something to do with Neville Longbottom's betrothal?" asked Dora. She held up the Daily Prophet and said, "Lady Longbottom, the Abbots and the Bones family all announced a betrothal for Neville, Hannah, and Susan."

"What?" asked Harry. "Neville with Hannah and Susan?"

"It's in the Daily Prophet?" asked her mother.

"Yeah, it pushed the announcement of me and Andrew to the bottom of the page," Dora said, suddenly realizing that she was jealous to have her moment stolen by three teenagers.

Not bothering to correct her daughter's language for once, Andromeda took the paper and read aloud, "Lady Augusta Longbottom, regent for House Longbottom, is pleased to announce that she has signed a betrothal for her grandson Heir Neville Francis Longbottom with Miss Hannah Grace Abbot and a conjoined Line Continuation Contract for Heiress Susan Amelia Bones. The future Lady Longbottom and Lady Bones are rising fourth year Hufflepuffs. Heir Longbottom is a rising fourth year Gryffindor."

"What does that mean?" Harry asked.

"Neville will be bound to both witches. Hannah will bear the Longbottom heirs and Susan will bear his children too but they'll be the Bones heirs."

"Go Neville," Sirius quipped though he fell silent when Narcissa and Andy both threw him dirty looks.

"Aren't they a little young?" asked Ted.

"Yes, they are," Narcissa replied. "Families don't generally use betrothals until the children are in their last two years at Hogwarts. With four years at Hogwarts, I wouldn't be surprized if there aren't babies born before they graduate."

Dora looked thoughtful. "It could be Susan, Amelia's niece, who wants to have her babies before she graduates. Then she'd be able to go straight into Auror training. She'll want to be Director of the DMLE at thirty so her aunt can become Minister. Hannah would raise Susan's babies for her."

"But why cut Heir Potter from contact with Heir Longbottom?" asked Narcissa. "The Potter and Longbottom families are traditional allies – have been for almost two hundred years."

Andromeda glanced toward Sirius and carefully said, "Augusta may be leery of the influence that Sirius has on Harry and consequently on her grandson."

"What? I'm going to turn 'em dark while they ride their bicycles around our village?" asked Sirius.

"It's Bones," Harry said. "Susan Bones… She was furious when I told her that her aunt tried to read my mind that day at Privet Drive. She called me a liar and wouldn't speak to me the rest of the year. Everybody in Hufflepuff dropped me and I'd see the girls talking to Neville but then cry and run away when I walked up."

Andromeda sighed, "MCW can't interfere… everyone's with their legal guardian and…"

"And Augusta got her knickers twisted because I asked her to back up Harry against Amelia," Sirius admitted. "She might already been in negotiations and took my request as an attempt to screw… uh… interfere with the negotiations."

"So, Neville can't be my friend because his Grandmother wants him to marry two girls who don't like me," Harry muttered. "I hate Magical Britain. I hate this place!"

The adults exchanged sad looks but didn't urge Harry Potter to say something 'he didn't mean'.

Against his better judgement, Snot provided Harry with the Daily Prophet for several days that followed the announcement. He didn't try to communicate with Neville or any member of Hufflepuff that he thought had been his friend before the end of their third year.

There was a single letter from Ernie McMillan, a 'puff in their year that included news that Neville was very angry with his grandmother for taking this decision out of his hands, he wasn't pleased with Hannah and Susan for pushing the betrothal forward two years.

Harry found one paragraph interesting, '**If Lady Longbottom waited until Neville was fourteen, he could have objected and delayed the betrothal until they were sixteen. But now, Neville was locked into the contract. The girls are also insisting that they share a suite of rooms called 'Heir's Quarters' near the Hufflepuff common room.' **

Harry asked Sirius about these quarters near Gryffindor and if he could have one.

"You don't want to be in the dormitory?"

"Not particularly," Harry said as he explained Dean's obsession with bringing girls into their dorm room and Seamus's ability to show up drunk at thirteen last year.

++%%++

Sirius Black, with the endorsement of Andromeda Tonks at MCW, sent a letter to Charity Burbage about concerns of drunk students in Gryffindor (students under the age of seventeen), and an inquiry if all students were taught the contraceptive charms for both wizards and witches before fourth year.

In a second letter to Charity Burbage and Deputy Headmistress McGonagall, Lord Sirius Black politely insisted that Hogwarts provide suitable heir's quarters for his 'son and heir', Harry Potter, in the vicinity of Gryffindor tower.

++%%++

SCENE Secret Room at Malfoy Manor

Because he didn't have contact with Neville that July, Harry spent every day flying with Sirius around the castle in Austria (his favourite painting) and extra hours with the teacher in the classroom painting. His abilities with Runes and Arithmancy were fifth year level already and he excelled in DADA and Charms. Without telling his godfather, Harry revised his potions and planned to work very hard in that class in his fourth year; he had a favourable opinion of Professor Severus Snape because the wizard occasionally shared memories of Lily in photos and stories from time to time.

)**&&**(

When they grew bored, Sirius had Snot and Dobby take them to Malfoy place. There were two house elves left in the manor and they were in awe of the Potter elves.

In a portrait gallery, Sirius and Harry were subjected to terrible language from the Malfoy portraits until Harry had the elves silence them all. Then he locked each portrait in their painting and forced them all to go to sleep. The elves stored the Malfoy paintings in the manor's attic where they would decay and fall apart in several years as the family magic in the manor dissipated.

Then Harry had the secret paintings gathered from Hogwarts and brought to Malfoy Manor. Underneath the manor's ballroom, Lucius Malfoy had created a room that was carefully hidden from almost all other magic – only Dobby knew how to access the room now.

First, the magical painting with the wisp of the Dark Lord's soul floating around was brought into the room and placed on a stand facing a blank wall. Then the magical painting of the potions lab table with the other soul jars was brought into the room and placed on stand facing another wall. The wisp of soul never saw the other painting.

++%%++

"Harry," Sirius asked in him most innocent voice.

"Yeah."

"Can I talk to Remus once in a while? Maybe get Dobby to send him some wine? Some new clothes?"

Harry looked at his godfather and said, "Only with Snot present… or me in the same room, and no secret conversations!"

"Yes! I remembered some stories about when we… well, there was this girl who liked us both and we…."

Harry ran from the room to avoid the story, while Snot hit Sirius with a stinging hex on his behind. The dogfather grinned as he rubbed the stinging cheek and decided the look on Harry's face had been totally worth it.

++%%++

SCENE Nexia's Talent

After Harry walked through the manor several times, he asked Snot and Dobby to bring the painting of the Nundu to the ballroom. He had them bring in a large wooden stand and positioned it before a large glass door that looked across the farm lands as the sun set each day. The Nundu woke in the painting occasionally, usually when Harry was in the room. It paced around from time to time but many times, it lay on the 'ground' and rolled over, exposing it's belly to Harry.

One day in the ballroom, Harry asked Snot and Dobby if either of them were talented with paints.

"We can paint the walls quickly," Snot replied.

"No, I mean for a magical painting, like the Nundu," Harry explained.

"No, Mr Harry Potter," Dobby replied. "Special elves trained from baby to paint magical paintings."

"I thought wizards painted the magical portraits,"

"They do but many times an elf painted the background. If the wizard or witch wants many details in the painting, there can be more than one elf adding things."

"Like a library?"

"Yes, a good elf would take a year to paint a good library!"

"What about a jungle? With lots of animals?" Harry asked.

Snot and Sirius went to Diagon Alley with Harry a few days later; after an inquiry with Ironstream, his Gringotts account manager, Harry learned that a prominent wizarding artist had several debts for medical bills for his elderly mother and needed an infusion of galleons.

The wizard had several talented elves and he agreed to sell one to Harry for a large number of galleons. The mature elf was named Nexia and she was put to work the same day she came to Malfoy Manor to paint a large painting of the African jungle with grasslands, watering holes, and a large variety of animals, magical and non-magical.

At the end of July, just in time for Harry's birthday, she completed the first version of the jungle painting, and applied the magical potion to activate the painting. Harry and Snot entered the painting to feel the air, view a herd of antelope in the distance, and hear elephants approaching the watering hole. Grabbing Harry's arm, Snot pulled them out of the painting before the elephants reached the water.

"Nexia! It's great!" harry exclaimed. "The heat of the sun was real. The smells were strong and the animals looked and moved like real animals! Thank you! Thank you!"

The elf was shocked for her 'master' to speak to her in this manner – of course 'Mr Harry Potter' insisted that she was now just a part of their family, not a slave or property.

With everyone standing to one side, Harry stood at the front of the canvas as Snot opened the Nundu's painting onto the African plain. The beast came to the 'door', looked around the canvas, and took a step forward. The Nundu walked to the watering hole where it leaned over and drank his fill. Then the creature stood up and walked over to the edge of the canvas where Harry stood.

Wizard and elves and watched every move by the deadly beast. And though no one would admit it they each swore that the Nundu purred with happiness before it turned and bound into the distance, hunting for dinner on the African plain.

SCENE Painting of Two Ladies

One evening after returning to Greentree Lane, Sirius had an 'ah-ha' moment. If he and Harry could enter the magical painting of the magical castle to fly, why couldn't he enter the magical painting with his two ladies, Cherry and Tina?

Once Harry had gone to bed, and after casting silencing spells on his bedroom, Sirius woke the two lovely ladies, cast the charm and entered the painting. After that night, he spent many nights with the two ladies in the painting, never forgetting to place the silencing charm on his room.

One morning, Harry came into the room searching for Sirius when Dobby called them for breakfast. Unable to find Sirius in his bed (still made), or in his bathroom, Harry wandered out, hurrying down the stairs. Back in the bedroom, in the magical painting, Sirius raised his head from under the covers with Cherry on one side and Tina on the other. Quietly, he exited the painting and then dressed and hurried down the stairs. Snot noticed the scents lingering around Sirius and snapped his fingers to hide them without catching Harry's attention.

SCENE Help from Remus

After a week jumping back and forth between the manor and Greentree Lane, Sirius suggested that they spend the rest of the summer at Malfoy Manor. Once Harry was back at school, Sirius would stay at the house in Little Whinging.

"You mean you want a room further away from mine so you can yell and scream more when you're visiting Cherry and Tina." Harry said.

"What? How?" sputtered Sirius.

"You're silencing spells are for crap, Black," Harry said. "I have to reinforce 'em every night or you and your girlfriends wake me up!"

The marauder stood speechless for a full two minutes before Harry agreed to the request to spend their nights at the manor.

"I will make certain that my bedroom is far away from yours!" he told his godfather.

The next morning, Harry and Snot also placed the painting that held Remus Lupin captive in a secure room that had once been the private study of Narcissa Malfoy. No visitor could find the room today with the spells that Snot cast and the ones he taught Harry.

At the request of Sirius, Harry met with Remus at the edge of the canvas and asked him to aide in their research of horcruxes and how to destroy them. After three months locked in the attic at Grimmauld Place in the 'garden' painting with nothing to do, Remus agreed to perform the research; while Remus was distracted by some story from Sirius, Snot charmed the new books and maps into the canvas for Lupin's research.

In just three days, Remus concluded that there was one more horcrux and it was most likely the Gaunt family ring. He'd collated the information collected by Sirius, Harry, and Snot, with information shared by Dumbledore about the family; Dumbledore had shown Remus memories of the disreputable family of squibs living in a town in the north of England named Little Hangleton. The information in the files from Harry's elf connected the Gaunts to the Riddles in the same town.

SCENE Remus Plots

Sirius had begun telling Remus tales about his new adventures with Tina and Cherry in their magical painting. Harry always moved further away during these conversations that reminded him of Seamus and Dean too much, so the teenager wasn't listening closely when Remus expressed the 'need' for some time with the ladies in the painting in the bedchamber where Sirius slept.

"Come on Pads, we'll party like we did that summer after graduation. James was on his honeymoon with Lily but you and I shagged every witch and muggle girl in Monaco, remember?"

"We did have a good time that summer, didn't we?"

"Best times! Let me join you tonight and we'll party!"

Sirius grinned and nodded. "I'll take care of it after Harry goes to sleep."

"And don't tell the elves, they don't have a sense of adventure like we do!"

While Remus didn't have the chance to see the spell that Sirius used to go back and forth from reality to the magical canvas, Sirius did cast the spell that opened the frames between the canvases and allowed Remus to join him with Tina and Cherry for an evening of abandon. While the two girls slept late the next morning, Remus shared the information he'd found about the Gaunt family with Sirius.

"Here's the chance for you to be Harry's hero, Padfoot," Remus explained. "Harry and his elves have discovered or captured all the other horcruxes; here's your chance to be a hero!"

Sleepy, Sirius thanked his friend and then sent Remus back to his garden and ended the connection to the canvas where the two ladies lived.

Back in his garden painting, Remus glanced in a reflecting pool and found he couldn't look himself in the eye without regret. Then he shook his shoulders, and dipped his head once as if to say, 'Good job!' before he went to the spot against a wall where he usually slept.

_))%((_

SCENE Death of Dogfather

It was late in the morning and Harry was finishing the last of his summer essays, when Dobby popped into the room crying and pointing down the stairs toward the front the manor. Hurrying downstairs, Harry found Snot holding up Sirius Black's shoulders and head.

Just as Harry reached him, Sirius opened his eyes and tried to smile through the terrible pain, "Pup! I'm sorry. I wanted to help you. I got the ring from the Gaunt shack for your collection!"

Harry noticed the blackened state of his godfather's left hand and the ring on a finger.

"What happened?" Harry managed to ask.

"Last night I invited Remus to join me with Cherry and Tina. After… before I sent him back to his painting, Remus told me where the ring was…"

Sirius paused to lick his lips before he continued, "I went to hunt for it. I'm sorry pup, but the ring promised me that I could see James again… I miss him so much."

Tears flowed freely down Harry's face as his godfather died just minutes after returning to the manor. Sirius, tired of life and its many disappointments, welcomed his death rather than fighting and suffering.

SCENE Uncovering Lupin's Plot

Harry screamed and cried, held the body of his godfather and drenched it with his tears. He begged again and again for Sirius to wake up, to not be dead; he pleaded Sirius not to leave him. The teenager's grief hurt all four of the elves in the manor and they gathered to lay hands on their wizard, trying to alleviate some of his pain.

Eventually, the boy collapsed after crying himself out and Snot popped him home to Greentree Lane and strengthened the wards. He tucked him into bed, fed him a dreamless sleep potion, and stood guard over his wizard as the other elves went into a frenzy of activity.

With great care, Nexia removed the ring from the cursed hand, and Dobby brought the painting that held the other horcruxes from the basement. Then Dobby cast the spell that threw the ring into the painting with other horcruxes. The Gaunt family ring bounced off Hufflepuff's cup and rolled around the potion lab table for just a moment before coming to a stop.

Finally, Dobby returned the painting to the hidden room under the ballroom and went to share the news with Miss Andy and Mr Ted.

In their home, Andromeda was in tears, her husband holding her, as she cried after hearing Dobby's news.

"What happened, Dobby?" Ted asked.

"Where's Harry?" Andromeda asked. "He can't be left alone."

"Mr Sirius Blacks went after the last soul jar of the Dark Lord Whatshisname without help. He wanted to collect one and make Mr Harry Potter proud," Dobby explained. "The protections on the soul jar lied to Mr Sirius Black and he was cursed. He used apparition to return to Malfoy Manor where Mr Harry Potter working…"

The little elf sighed, "Mr Sirius Black able to say 'good-bye' to godson before he died."

"Stupid! Stupid!" Andromeda cursed. Ted kept an arm around his wife as she raged through her first grief. "Where is Harry?"

"Mr Harry Potters be sleeping now in his bed at home."

"Greentree Lane?" asked Ted.

Dobby nodded.

"What do we do, Andy?"

"I'll go upstairs and tell Narcissa. When Harry wakes up, we'll bring him here."

Gringotts issued a certificate of death for (Lord) Sirius Marius Black. The cause of death was listed as an unspecified dark curse that struck him down on 3 August 1994. A private funeral was held on 5 August that no one but family and a few goblin witnesses were allowed to attend. There was a private reading of the will on 6 August and a public reading on 7 August.

For publication in the Daily Prophet, with Minister Amos Diggory representing the ministry and Director Amelia Bones leading the minister's security detail, the goblins read the Last Will and Testament of (Lord) Sirius M Black. The major legacies included generous gifts to his two cousins, his godson, and a sizable bequest for Hogwarts.

The primary specification on the Hogwarts bequest was that it would not be released to the school until Albus Dumbledore was dead and buried. No loans or advances could be made based on the bequest.

The guardianship of his godson, Harry Potter, was granted to his cousin Andromeda Tonks and the Potter proxy for the Wizengamot would be Theodore Tonks until his godson was recognized as an adult and directed any changes. In a strange twist, Sirius granted his godson a fee-simple deed to Malfoy Manor and the land attached to that estate.

The final line of Sirius Black's will caused some concern in the minister,** 'My beloved cousin Narcissa will be the mother of the next Lord Black. Until such time as the boy is born and grows to be seventeen, my cousin, Andromeda Tonks and her husband Theodore Tonks, will act as regent for the Black family and proxy in the Wizengamot.' **

'_What about Potter?'_ Diggory wondered. _'Isn't he the new Lord Black?'_

On 8 August, Harry requested permission from his new guardians to return to his 'home' on Greentree Lane.

"Do you think it's wise to be alone?" Andromeda asked the teenager.

That brought a genuine smile to the boy's face when he replied, "I won't be alone. I've got three elves that will keep me on my toes to get my homework finished."

"I think you need to be with us," Andy said in her most reasonable voice.

Narcissa laughed and said, "Andy, you and Ted are both gone from before eight in the morning until after seven every night. Let Harry go to his house – Sirius's house. If he is here for supper each night, that'll give you the time you want with him."

"Well…"

"Please?" Harry asked.

"When did Sirius teach you that look?" Andromeda asked, half teasing and half angry.

"Thanks, Aunt Cissy," Harry told Narcissa when he prepared to leave Grimmauld Place after supper that night.

"Harry, there are many things I regret in my life," Narcissa told the boy. "I regret that Draco was unable to make friends with you. Maybe that would have made a difference."

She placed her hand over her stomach with a smile, "This baby will grow up with love and more tolerance for other people. You must be part of his life! That'll be something I won't regret."

Then she hugged the boy and said, "Remember that Sirius loved you. He was excessively proud of you!"

Once he was 'home', Harry immediately checked the wards and found them untouched. Nexia was busy with her latest creation, Dobby worked on Harry's robes for Hogwarts – he'd wear a black ribbon on his sleeve for the entire year to mourn his godfather, and Snot was busy counting his latest gold 'shipment'; five hundred marble chips from an Italian quarry.

When Harry discovered his elf was ordering marble chips from a nearby gardening centre to turn into gold, he made him stop until Dobby had time to spread a large number of the chips on top of the mulch in flower beds.

"You can't buy stuff that disappears," Harry said. "Slow up on the gold anyway. We're not paying any more wizards to vote with Lady Longbottom again."

Once Harry unpacked his clothes, (Dobby helped him), he sat at his desk and began to write down everything he remembered from the day his godfather died. He questioned each of the elves separately, edited his notes, and then he checked his godfather's wand.

In addition to the charms that allowed the werewolf access to the picture of the two young ladies, he found several spells for apparition, 'point me', dispelling protections, and then a final apparition spell.

The next morning, Harry asked Snot to take him to Malfoy Manor. Here the old Malfoy wards were supplemented by the powerful Black family wards to hide the estate from the entire world. Dozens of elves worked very hard on the farms around the manor and Harry verified that the presence of the paintings containing the Dark Lord's soul jars had not affected the little fellows in any way.

"We keep the paintings behind more wards in the basement," Snot told Mr Harry Potter. "Lucius Malfoy knew what he had with the Dark Lord's soul jar and he kept it isolated from his family."

Harry nodded as he lead the way into Sirius's bedroom where the painting of the two 'ladies' hung. With a snap of Snot's fingers, they woke and welcomed Harry. Dressed appropriately for a visit by the 'young lord', the two ladies tried to remember the elf's instructions – nothing salacious – just answer Mr Harry Potter's questions honestly.

"I need to ask you questions about the last time Sirius came to visit you," he told Cherry and Tina. They readily told him the story of Sirius bringing Remus into the painting for the evening. Snot wouldn't allow the two women to share many details but they did admit that the two wizards talked about their world outside the canvas while the ladies 'rested'. Cherry remembered none of the conversation, but Tina repeated word-for-word the sentences where Remus told Sirius that he could be a hero if he recovered a ring for his godson.

"Remus told Sirius to find a muggle town called Little Hangleton in York and to search for a deserted shack. It was the last home of the Gaunt family," explained the painted face. "And the wizard said there was a ring hidden there that would complete your collection."

SCENE Barty Crouch Stumbles

As head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation since 1982, Bartemius Crouch was an influential figure in the ministry. The shame of his son's betrayal was generally forgotten by his co-workers since the boy died just before his own mother died several years before. Now, he was charged by Minister Diggory with making certain everything was ready for the Tri-Wizard Tournament that would be held a Beauxbatons during the school year.

Crouch supported Dumbledore to get the tournament at Hogwarts until Diggory told him to choose – support Dumbledore and be demoted to work in the Office for Misuse of Muggle Artefacts, or he could support the Ministry's position of sending the seventh year students to the south of France for the majority of their last year of schooling.

Crouch adapted well to the situation and quickly met with his French counterpart to iron out all the problems with the magical train travelling from London, to Paris, and then to the southernmost reaches of the country.

Diggory drug Crouch through the Chunnel twice to convince him that it was safe for travel. On one of the trips via a muggle train that moved incredibly fast, Diggory reminded Crouch of an important fact that holding the tournament in France provided.

"Just think Barty, almost a whole year with Albus Dumbledore confined in the Pyrenees with French witches and dour wizards from Germany and beyond," Diggory reminded Crouch. "Play your cards right while Dumbledore's gone and you might get a better position."

This morning as Crouch exited the elevators in the ministry, he stumbled and fell, striking his head quite hard and bleeding all over the floor. When he woke up in St Mungo's several hours later, he discovered that cufflinks bound him to the bed.

Director Bones stood at the foot of the bed, frowned and then asked, "Where's Junior?"

While treating his head injury, the healers discovered that Barty's mind was clouded by exposure to the Imperious curse. In the confusion of waking after striking his head to finding himself handcuffed, the wizard confessed everything – breaking his son out of Azkaban and leaving his wife behind to die alone except for the presence of Dementors, keeping Barty Jr under the imperious for ten years, only for his son to turn the tables on him just two weeks ago.

"I've been under his Imperious ever since, keeping my mouth shut about the Dark Lord returning to Britain."

"What about the Dark Lord?" Amelia demanded.

There was a trial that followed the law, but Crouch Sr confessed and was almost thankful when he was allowed to choose between a life sentence at Azkaban or the veil. He chose the veil and was executed the same afternoon as his trial.

In the aftermath, Gringotts seized the Crouch home and assets to ensure that the Ministry received all taxes that were due. There was a Last Will and Testament that distributed all of Crouch's assets among the various departments in the Ministry. The house, furnishings and house elf were put up for sale, and Snot placed the successful bid for the little female house elf named Winky.

The new elf recoiled from Grimmauld Place and asked, fearfully, to be allowed to work at Greentree Lane with Mr Harry Potter. Winky was surprized that her request was granted immediately but she set to work with Dobby and Snot. Nexia had paint brushes to clean and the elf deliberately scattered paint drops on the floors and rugs to give Winky and Dobby chores to complete.

SCENE The Future of Remus Lupin

Harry waited for two more days before he entered Narcissa's former study, where the painting holding Remus Lupin rested on a large stand. The study was nice and light, the furniture still intact – sale of the furniture had been postponed following the death of the owner and transfer to his heir, Harry Potter.

Dobby tapped on the canvas in the same manner that he used to the wizard to receive food and drink. Remus wandered out of the trees and walkways of the garden and stood silently waiting for Harry to speak. The boy had grown in the last four months.

Harry stared at Remus for only a moment before announcing, "You killed Sirius."

"What? What do you mean? Where's Sirius?" asked Remus.

"You sent him on the hunt for Gaunt family ring in Little Hangleton without another wizard to help him. We told you about the protections on each soul jar. You knew Sirius wasn't well, but you sent him anyway…"

Remus remained silent for a long while before he asked, "Are you going to kill me?"

"Sirius would not want me to kill you. And I have a use for you – I need a witness for the destruction of the horcruxes and the end of the Dark Lord Tom Riddle," Harry declared. "After I have killed him, you can report the news faithfully and truthfully to Dark Lord Albus Dumblesquat."

"He's not…" Remus began to protest before Harry silenced him.

_(**)_

SCENE Remus Attempts to Escape

As a reminder of his betrayal, Harry left a new painting facing Remus in his painting; it was a new portrait of Sirius by Nexia. The painting wasn't magical but it did portray the 'dogfather' with a happy smile on his face – something that had been appearing more and more in the weeks before he died.

A few mornings later, Remus awoke when the elf who regularly brought his food stood at the edge of the picture frame with breakfast as well as two boxes of clothes and items.

"Master Siriuses wanted Mister Wolf to have his clothes and books," reported Dobby. Without another word, the elf sent the items into the picture; sending the two boxes took much longer than just sending in food. Without making any comments, Remus studied the magic and realized that he could duplicate it and escape.

'_If I only had a wand!'_

Inspired for a moment, Remus searched of the garden once again, looking for items he could use to make a wand. The search was unsuccessful but then he thought to search through the boxes of items from Sirius. Underneath the clothes, Remus found the wand that Sirius used. The last spells cast by the wand were detection and apparition spells; Remus sighed and sat at the table to eat his cold breakfast.

'_Maybe I shouldn't have sent Sirius to Little Hangleton,' _Remus admitted to himself. _'But Sirius and Harry refuse to tell this story to Dumbledore! He has to be told so he can decide what is the best thing to do!'_

Without much remorse, Remus admitted to himself, _'Now, Harry will have to go to Dumbledore for advice because Sirius is dead.'_

After another moment's consideration, Remus approached the edge of his painted prison and carefully checked everything he could see in the room. A mirror over a desk opposite his painting allowed him to see almost all of the room and he was alone. A fire burned in the fireplace and there was a container of floo powder that would take him to Three Broomsticks in Hogsmeade.

Then he would report this story of collecting horcruxes to Dumbledore and just as important, Harry's ability to hide in magical paintings.

Carefully replicating the magic used by the elf when it sent in the boxes of items earlier in the day, Remus watched an escape hatch open in the canvas. It was difficult to stabilize and expand enough for him to slip through but after ten minutes the wizard fell from his painting onto the carpet in the study.

Just as Remus stood up in a real room for the first time in months, the flames in the floo turned green and the face of Albus Dumbledore appeared, calling out to Sirius Black.

"Sirius Black! I know you're there! Talk to me! Harry's not safe without my protection!"

"Dumbledore! Let me come through," Remus said as he bent down before the flames.

"Remus! Where have you been?" the headmaster's face broke into his famous smile with the comforting twinkle in his eye.

"It's a long story. May I come through?" Remus asked.

"Yes, my boy, come through to my office. The address is 'headmaster's office at Hogwarts'."

Remus took some floo powder and cast it into the flames that turned a brighter green.

"Headmaster's office at Hogwarts," Remus stated and then stepped into the flames.

As the flames grabbed him, he glanced back into the room, and realized he had not escaped the prison Harry Potter had locked him into; he had stepped from one canvas into another one. Outside the picture frame of Narcissa's study stood Harry Potter with his bloody house elves, watching Remus vanish into the green flames. He spun about for a long time; much longer than normal for floo travel, but then Remus was pushed out and stumbled.

When he landed on the ground, Remus quickly stood and surveyed the area –was it possible that he had been thrown all the way from Britain to Africa! Standing in a grassy area right next to a watering hole and a thick forest, he listened and took a deep breath, trying to identify any creatures around him. From the forest, several large deer-like creatures – antelopes – appeared and didn't pause as they ran around the wizard standing in the grass. Scents in the air told Remus that hyenas, jackals, and lions had already passed through the grass, leaving scents of fear behind.

Following the fast antelopes came slower creatures; rhinos, re'ems, elephants, and erumpents. Remus was smart enough to move out of the path of these large animals but they ignored the 'little' man in their hurry to escape the forest.

As the last of the animals vanished in the distance, Remus began walking around the watering hole – checking for signs of alligators that might attack when he attempted to get water. But his examination of the watering hole was interrupted when an ear-splitting scream erupted from the trees; a challenging call that sat Mooney on edge.

'_Danger! Run!'_ the internal wolf-spirit demanded of the wizard, but Remus ignored the command and reached for his wand. He'd use blind apparition to jump a kilometre or two across the grass to escape.

'_Where's my wand?'_ he wondered for one second before a second scream of the predator came out of the woods and without thinking Remus found himself running after the long-gone herbivores and carnivores.

The Nundu bounded out of the trees and tore through the grass, chasing the predator that dared to invade it's hunting ground. The 'man' smelled like a wolf and magic; enough to make a satisfying meal for the hungry apex predator of this magical canvas of Africa.

_(**)_

Outside the picture frame, Harry Potter watched as the last marauder was run-down and eaten. First, the Nundu tripped Remus, then as the wizard tried to rise to his feet, the leopard-like predator launched itself at the wizard and carried its prey back to the ground where the Nundu locked its jaws around the wizard's neck. A powerful bite ended the werewolf's life.

Dobby and Winky snatched glimpses but then they shuddered and looked away. Nexia watched closely but Harry knew she studied her largest creation for details of the grass, the distant trees and sky. The ever-faithful Snot stood beside Harry, a hand on his leg, letting his Mr Harry Potter know he was there.

As the Nundu fed from the corpse, Snot sighed and said, "Mr Harry Potter smart to not trust Mr Wolf."

"I have the bestest elves in all of Britain – no, the bestest elves in the whole world!" Harry told them and he meant the compliment sincerely. "Dobby did great with delivering the bait. If Remus lived up to the agreement, I would have freed him after killing the soul jars but he couldn't…"

The boy-who-lived sighed and repeated aloud, for his own heart to hear, "I told him I'd release him after the Dark Lord was dead but he decided to report to his 'Dark Lord' rather than wait. He killed Sirius and I don't regret letting him kill himself."

_)**(_

The night before, while Remus slept, Snot pushed the painting containing the werewolf inside a second canvas. This was Nexia's painting of Narcissa Malfoy's study where the portrait set for the time it had been in Malfoy Manor. When Remus awoke, he assumed he was still in the study. Dobby entered the painting to deliver food, drink, and Sirius's belongings to Lupin in his painting.

_)**(_

In the painting of the study, after Nexia painted the fireplace, she asked Mr Harry Potter to paint the flames that would represent the floo connection and to concentrate his thoughts on the face of Albus Dumbledore and what he would say from the flames to a suddenly freed Remus Lupin.

The flames in the fireplace carried the message from Dumbledore, offering Remus another chance to 'betray' his friends. Once Mr Harry Potter painted the 'message', Snot placed the portrait charm on the fireplace that moved the werewolf from the first painting to the new painting of the African plain where the Nundu hunted.

_)**(_

SCENE Plans for the End of Dark Lord Whatshisname

Harry met with Alastor Moody at Moody's home soon after the reading of Sirius Black's will to discuss an invitation list. He'd been forced into retirement by Director Bones at the end of May; she didn't appreciate Moody's criticism of her leadership style under Diggory's ministry. The request from 'Heir Potter' was welcome and he readily agreed to a confidentiality oath when asked. In Moody's sparsely furnished lounge, the Auror greeted the boy-who-lived.

Without wasting time on pleasantries, Harry jumped directly to his subject and said, "With the help of my godfather, I now possess all the soul jars of Dark Lord Whatshisname. I intend to end him before the beginning of the next school year at Hogwarts."

"Without Dumbledore's input or permission?" asked Moody, just to wind the kid up.

His eyes flashing, Harry snarled his response, "What has Dumbledore ever done in the hunt for the soul jars of Dork Lord? He had thirteen years to look and he's done nothing! I think… I believe that Dumblesquat is just as much a dark lord as Tom Riddle ever was!"

The smaller pieces of furniture in the room had begun to rise from the floor, the curtains billowed in the wind, and Harry Potter's green eyes flashed with fire. Moody made a single gesture with his hands conceding the argument and Harry calmed down.

"Why did you want to talk to me today then?"

"I want your input on two things: who should I invite to witness the end of the dark lord? And what kind of contract do I write that they must sign to be able to attend?"

With a chalkboard provided by Snot, Harry and Moody wrote out a long list of names of individuals from the Ministry, Hogwarts, and Gringotts. From his family, he wanted to invite Ted and Andromeda Tonks.

"But not Dora or Narcissa?"

Harry grinned, "Nymphadora married Andrew Prewitt last Saturday. Sirius paid for a nice honeymoon in Shangri-La and Andy won't let anything stand in the way of getting her hands on some grandchildren."

"And Miss Black?"

Again, there was a smile on Harry's face as he said, "Aunt Narcissa has withdrawn from society for a time. It will be spring before she visits the Wizengamot again."

"Who's the father?" asked Moody instantly assuming the woman was pregnant with the next Lord Black.

"That's family information, Auror Moody. I would have expected Director Bones to demand to be told but not you!"

Laughing now, Moody grinned and said, "Rightly so, Heir Potter. None of my business. But anytime you or your family needs security out in public, I would be interested in supplementing the thirty or more elves you have surrounding her."

"Elves?" asked Harry innocently. "I had not thought of that."

"Like I believe that…" Moody grumbled. "Anyways, back to the list for the party…"

Reading from a muggle notebook Moody ran his finger along the lists of names.

**Hogwarts:** Albus Dumblesquat, Minerva McGonagall, Severus Snape, Charity Burbage, Filius Flitwick

"Be careful using 'Dumblesquat' all the time. Eventually, you'll use it in public and earn a detention from the headmaster."

"Only if we're at school during the school year. Outside Hogwarts, I can call him anything I want to," Harry said.

"And if you aggravate him enough that he challenges you to a duel?"

"He loses – a powerful wizard attacks a child! Can you see the Daily Prophet headlines for the next week?"

**Ministry:** Amos Diggory, Amelia Bones, Department of Mysteries (two Unspeakables)

"Specify that you want #23 and #54. They're reasonable to work with."

Harry wrote that information down before Moody asked, "I don't see Augusta Longbottom's name here…"

"When she's dead, I will come and piss on her grave. She decided that Sirius was insane, that I'm going dark, Neville was in danger of being corrupted…"

"I thought she just betrothed him to those girls?"

"And wrote in the agreement that Harry Potter was not to be around the trio as they formed their bonds over the next two years."

"She was that afraid of you being Neville's friend?"

Harry frowned and admitted, "I don't know if it was all Lady Longbottom; Director Bones and Susan had sour tastes in their mouth for me at the end of the school year."

"Susan refused to believe that her aunt attempted to read my mind and of course Hannah sided with Susan. Director Bones was furious that I complained to Lady Longbottom and the old battle axe was insulted that Heir Potter thought he could depend on her in the Wizengamot."

Moody was silent for a moment and then asked, "How did you get those men who'd been supporting Augusta to change their positions so quickly?"

"Maybe I asked them to no longer support her," Harry replied.

"With gold?"

"Gold? I suppose someone might have paid them for their votes, but I never put gold into their hands," Harry said.

Moody nodded, "Good answer."

**Gringotts Bank:** Ragnock, Sharpknife, Sowsbreath

"Why these two with Ragnock?" asked Moody. "Who are they?"

"Sharpknife is the account manager for the Black family and Sowsbreath is the account manager for the Potter family. Ragnock and Sowsbreath know that Dumblesquat will attempt to get information from my account manager before the meeting; he'll want to know the location of the meeting, the guest list, what I actually have…"

"And Ragnock lets the goblin betray your trust like this?"

"Dumbles has to pay for every morsel of information. And I have the option of providing him with disinformation."

**Outsiders:** Alastor Moody, Editor of Daily Prophet, two neutral reporters (but not Rita Skeeter), one photographer

"You got a particular stone to grind with Skeeter?"

"I read some of her articles and I don't think she's ever written a truthful story in her life."

Then Harry turned the tables and asked, "How does it feel to see your name listed as an outsider and not a part of the minister or DMLE now?"

"Still makes me pissed," Moody admitted and he stomped over to pour himself a finger of Firewhiskey. "But it inspires me to add conditions in the contract – it must be something each person must sign… individual contracts and they have to initial multiple paragraphs so they can't say, 'I didn't see that!' if they get burned."

Moody and Harry went through multiple drafts of the agreement before ending their day. A draft of the contract (letter) was delivered that evening and Moody made a few suggestions.

'**Make certain to stress that you are not conducting any kind of ritual and you are not using any magic. Rituals are generally forbidden and underage magic would get you arrested. And stress that the ministry says that Tom Riddle died back in1981 at Halloween.'**

SCENE Invitation to End of Tom Riddle

With the help of Snot and the other elves, Harry wrote a detailed invitation that would require each invitee to sign it, making it a contract with him and magic. The invitation read:

**Minister Diggory and other invited guests: **

**I address you directly with this letter and include all my other guests for their own information. Each guest will be safe so long as they abide by my strict but reasonable rules. (Initial this paragraph that you have read and understand this warning) _**

**You are invited to attend the end of the Dark Lord Tom Riddle, on Saturday 27 August 1994. At 9:00AM that morning, I, Harry Potter, shall destroy the magical items that tie Tom Riddle's soul to this world. At that time, he will pass on to his next great adventure as Headmaster Albus Dumbledore is so fond of mentioning. (Initial this paragraph that you have read and understand the schedule) _**

**I have invited representatives of Gringotts Bank to attend the event so that they can certify that the Dark Lord is indeed 'sincerely and completely dead' this time. (Initial this paragraph that you have read and understand the information) _**

**My non-negotiable terms are that no visitors can cast any spell during the visit; nothing – no wands, no wandless compulsions, or attempts to analyse the wards. Guests may not in any way attempt to interfere with my task by words, actions, or throwing physical items. I recommend that Albus Dumbledore and Amelia Bones, place themselves under strong silencing charms. Violating any of these terms will result in loss of your magic. (Initial this paragraph that you have read and understand this warning) _**

**The destruction of Tom Riddle will not involve a ritual or any type of magic. REPEAT: Harry Potter won't perform any magic to destroy the Dark Lord. I have discovered a power that he doesn't know about, but it will end him and his relics so there'll be no charges of underage magic, and I won't be committing murder; per the ministry, Tom Marvolo Riddle (a.k.a. Whatshisname, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, and Dark Lord Voldemort died by my hand on 31 October 1981). (Initial this paragraph that you have read and understand this information) _**

**When you affix your signature to this invitation, you will be entered into a binding contract with Magic that will enforce your adherence to the rules set forth above. That morning, you will be provided with two portkeys – the first to enter the wards any time after 8:35AM. The second will take you away at any time you wish after 9:10AM. Both port keys are single use and cannot be duplicated – any attempt to duplicate the port key will destroy the port key. The port keys cannot be used by anyone else – an attempt to use them by anyone else may cause that person serious harm. (Initial this paragraph that you have read and understand this warning) _ **

**As a final warning, this invitation is based on intent. I intend to end the Dark Lord Tom Riddle. I intend to guarantee each invited witness with a safe arrival and departure. If anyone signs anything other than their full, magical name, the intent will still hold and Magic may judge him or her as soon as they violate the agreement. (Initial this paragraph that you have read and understand this warning) _**

**Signed: ****Harry Potter**

**Agreed: _**

**Note: Portkeys delivered on morning of event but only when signed at least two hours before the event (7:00AM). **

_)**(_

When the letters were delivered to everyone on the list on 24 August, Harry received multiple floo calls, and owls with letters attempting to negotiate terms. He rejected each and every request or attempt to alter the contract. Dumbledore sent one with every line scratched through and Harry filed the parchment away – any trial after the 27th would use it as evidence of Dumblesqaut's ill-intent.

_)**(_

SCENE 25 August 1994

The news about the 422nd Quidditch World Cup match between Ireland and Bulgaria was all the Daily Prophet covered in the last two weeks of August. Early in the summer, Sirius purchased a dozen tickets and the family planned to attend but after the death of his godfather, Harry lost all interest in the game. Nymphadora and her new husband were on their honeymoon, Narcissa snorted and walked away when Ted asked about the game, while Andromeda pinned him to his chair with a single look.

"I only asked because I wanted your consent to give them to someone else," Ted explained to Andromeda and Harry.

With permission from Andy, Narcissa, and Harry, Ted gave the tickets to friends from his law offices. All other thoughts about the tickets and Quidditch were lost in the bruhaha created when Harry's invitations to attend the end of Tom Riddle arrived on the morning of 25 August.

The conversations among the family members (some yelling but more tears and hugs than yelling) wiped away all consideration of the touted Quidditch match until 26 August when the Daily Prophet's headlines proclaimed the appearance of "Death Eater Supporters" who were all arrested. That three of these ruffians were pureblood wizards who'd claimed to be under the Imperious curse back in 1981 and none of the others were wizards of any note led Minister Diggory to ask for dispensation of the prohibition of vertaserum for the purebloods.

Diggory made his request of the Wizengamot while Dumbledore was absent from the Ministry; the headmaster was totally distracted as he tried to determine Harry Potter's knowledge of the horcruxes, the location of the 'event' on 27 August, and how to get the Order of the Phoenix there to put a stop to this nonsense. Albus Dumbledore missed all of the meetings and the trials in the Wizengamot.

Under truth serum questioning, on the afternoon of 26 August, the purebloods were found guilty of multiple crimes during the Death Eater insurrection and sentenced to the veil that same day.

_)**(_

SCENE 27 August 1994

Winky and Dobby reported at breakfast that the last two individuals invited to the end of Tom Riddle had signed their contracts just before 7:00AM. Their signed copies of the contract appeared on the table at Greentree Lane, and the port keys vanished.

"The last two were Albus Dumbledore and Amelia Bones, weren't they?" asked Harry. Dobby nodded as Harry said, "I almost wish they'd stayed away."

"They were both insulted by your comment in the invitation," Snot said as he and Nexia entered the kitchen at No.5 Greentree Lane in Little Whinging.

"Minister Diggory and the goblins are the only witnesses I have to have," Harry said. "And Alastor Moody. Everyone in the DMLE will believe him."

"Winky, be careful but monitor those two most carefully," Snot told the smallest elf. "Dumblesquat will attempt to duplicate them!"

"Winky's port keys not be duplicated! Explode and cover Dumblesquat with Dragon Dung that can't be washed away for two weeks!" the little elf asserted as she stamped her foot. Harry just grinned.

"Where did you get dragon… dung?" Snot asked the smallest, new elf.

"Dobby gets it for me from goblins. Ironstream laughs and gets Dobby two full bags of smelly fresh dragon dung," Winky said. Her new family was interesting and always happy with her work.

Andy and Ted were not happy; Harry could see that when they arrived at the designated spot for the 'event'. They weren't the first to arrive; Moody and the goblins had been first and they took seats front and centre.

When Harry's 'aunt and uncle' received their invitations earlier in the week they had been very angry but realized there was no way to stop Harry from moving forward. After some yelling, they agreed to be present for the destruction of the soul jars of the Dark Lord on Saturday morning. The argument actually made Harry feel good – he had people who really cared what happened to him.

"This is not a Quidditch Match!" Andy had yelled.

"I know that Aunt," Harry replied. "I have been working on this since December 1991 – two and a half years. Sirius died collecting the last horcrux and I want this off my shoulders before school starts."

"How much danger will you be in?" asked Ted.

"I don't think I'll be in any danger," replied Harry. "I can't give you details but I figured out how to kill the soul jars without magic. Once they are all dead, Tom Riddle's last wraith out there in the world will fade away."

"Just like that?" Andy sneered. "He was so powerful; how can it be that simple?"

"Sometimes, simple is better, don't you think?"

Andy and Ted sat beside Moody with three goblins on the other side; Ragnock, Sharpknife, and Ironstream. Sowsbreath had been replaced as the Potter account manager just the day before when Dumbledore pressed him for more information that he had to share.

Harold Farnsworth, the editor for the Daily Prophet arrived with two reporters and a photographer at 7:38. As they appeared on the lawn, there was a large clang as though someone had slammed a large metal pot with a hammer. Farnsworth pinned both reporters to their chairs with an evil eye but the pair denied knowing anything. The photographer looked ill before Farnsworth spoke sharply to him; the editor then spoke to Alastor Moody who shook his head.

The photographer was shaky for another minute or so but then he began taking photos while the two reporters questioned the other guests – Harry's contract said nothing about harassing the other attendees and he grimaced as Aunt Andy slapped one reporter's face and Uncle Ted slugged the other.

Next to arrive were most of the invitees from Hogwarts; Minerva McGonagall, Severus Snape, Charity Burbage, and Filius Flitwick arrived via separate portkeys and from the expressions on their faces, they were surprized to find each other there. They sat together on the back row and whispered quietly until the reporters approached them. Minerva's handbag contained a large brick from the walkways around Hogwarts and she flattened the wizard Aunt Andy had slapped earlier.

At 8:44, Amos Diggory, Amelia Bones, and one Unspeakable appeared via their port keys. Again, there was a large clang of a hammer hitting a large metal pot.

Harry watched Moody rise again and approach the lone Unspeakable who appeared to be disturbed that the other Unspeakable didn't arrive. Diggory and Bones listened to the two wizards talking before all four approached Harry. Andromeda, Ted, and the two reporters followed them quickly.

"Heir Potter, that noise… it was a traveller being bounced off the wards of this…" the Unspeakable looked about and continued, "…this manor house. Do you know why my fellow Unspeakable was bounced?"

Harry asked, "Which one are you? #23 or #54?"

"I'm #23.

"Then he wasn't #54. The port keys are tied to the specific magical signature that signed the contract."

"And how did you make these port keys, Heir Potter?" asked Amelia Bones. "That's under age magic!"

"Again?" Harry complained. "That's awfully close to harassing me this morning!"

"Harry, please explain to Director Amelia Bones why her accusation is false, groundless, and cause for a slander suit," Ted prompted.

"I didn't make the port keys; an elf did."

"What elf?" Bones asked but Diggory grabbed her by the arm, began his own lecture and pulled her away.

"Do you have any idea what the wards did to him?" Unspeakable #23 asked.

"I haven't got a clue. I inherited this manor from my godfather earlier this month. I selected this location to use this morning because it is secure and it provided a good, outdoor space."

Bones pulled away from Diggory and returned to ask about the wards again but Harry shrugged and said, "I haven't investigated the wards in detail but I believe my godfather enhanced them – he wanted me to be safe when I was here."

Now Ted Tonks stared at the Director of the DMLE and asked, "Isn't the law clear that any wizard is allowed to use all force necessary to prevent uninvited and unwelcome intruders from entering his property?"

"Yes, that is the law," Bones admitted reluctantly.

Without the appearance of Albus Dumbledore, Harry Potter began his 'demonstration' at 8:45AM. Calling for an 'elf', the canvas that held the magical portrait of Lucius Malfoy appeared and Harry asked Professor Snape to verify the identity of the man in the magical portrait. Then he asked Ironstream to verify that this portrait did indeed belong to the Potter estate.

"Yes, per your godfather's will, that portrait belongs to you."

From the portrait, Lucius Malfoy began a stream of expletives aimed at the boy-who-lived.

"My elf is very smart and we have practiced his role in this morning's tasks. When I snap my fingers, he will make certain objects appear here on the lawn."

"Or certain things happen," Harry said and with a snap of his fingers, the portrait was silenced.

"And here, I have multiple normal items from any wizarding household – cauldrons, pillows, potion bottles, foot stools."

"Professor Flitwick, would you be so good as to come forward and select any item or number of items from this pile?"

The charms professor did approach and select a large cauldron and a footstool that he examined carefully. He handed them to Harry who sat the cauldron on the ground and then asked his elf to 'throw' the cauldron into the canvas where it knocked Lucius Malfoy back against the wall. The wizard recovered, picked up the cauldron and threw it back at Harry but it merely bounced off the front of the canvas.

"Again," Harry said as his elf 'threw' the footstool into the portrait, again making Lucius Malfoy angry.

"Use something not of your choosing," the unspeakable suggested. "This could all be a parlour trick!"

Moody nodded reluctantly and said, "Anyone got anything on 'em?"

From her place in the back, Minerva McGonagall said, "When I saw in the invitation that Mr Potter would not allow anyone to use their wands, I put this brick into my purse."

She pulled the brick out and handed it to Moody who examined it before handing it to the Unspeakable. The wizard took the brick to Director Bones and made her handle and verify that the brick was real. Then the Unspeakable approached the boy and placed the brick on the ground but didn't return to his seat.

Flitwick shook his head, "You can't see the charm the elf's using. There's a powerful shield up around them both."

Nodding his head, the Unspeakable remained where he stopped as the little elf moved his hands to throw the brick into the portrait. This time, Lucius Malfoy dodged the object flying into the canvas, though he did continue swearing at the boy.

"Heir Potter, would it violate your contract if I could speak with Mr Malfoy as I inspect his portrait?" asked the Unspeakable.

Grimacing as he thought about it, Harry said, "Alright but no more than one minute. We're on a schedule here."

Flitwick watched the Unspeakable examining the canvas carefully, but Lucius was unwilling to speak to the wizard at all.

The Unspeakable told everyone in attendance, "After a physical and visual examination, I do believe the portrait to be authentic and magical. And I believe that Mr Potter is able to throw things into the canvas of a magical painting."

"Bloody right!" shouted the portrait of Lucius Malfoy. "That brick could have broken my arm or leg in here!"

Then the Unspeakable motioned for Harry to place the silencing spell on the portrait again.

"No, I need him to be heard for the next part of the demonstration," Harry said as he again snapped his fingers and this time, a large silver spike appeared set into the ground. It was about three feet long and flared out below the tip with sharp edges to cut anything dropped onto it.

"This portrait is simply a magical painting with a portion of a wizard's soul captured inside. They are quite easy to destroy," Harry said as he lifted the canvas that was Lucius Malfoy's portrait, then swung it over the spike and dropped it. The spike easily pierced the canvas and there was a short gurgle from the portrait as the last piece of Lucius Malfoy was sent to his next great adventure.

Professor Flitwick asked, "How did you know this spike would work?"

Harry grinned. "My godfather and I may have experimented with different instruments to find one that was most effective to end the magic of a magical painting. The manor was full of mouthy portraits when I first came here in July."

"Merlin, he is going dark!" Amelia Bones said aloud though she slapped her hand over her mouth quickly.

Diggory moved down a seat from the Director of the DMLE and commented scornfully, "If you suffer from breaking the contract, I don't want to be seated next to you."

"I am not going dark," Harry said with a sour look on his face. "I'm just growing up and discovering more and more about Magical Britain."

Harry snapped his fingers and an elf appeared with table at the end of the row of chairs. On the table were multiple calming potions easily identified by the colour of the bottles.

"What I am about to share with you may be upsetting so I have provided Calming Potions that were brewed by the best potion master in Britain, Severus Snape."

"And before you ask, Director Bones, I paid for them," Harry; the announcement drawing smirks from Andy and Ted.

"The Dark Lord Tom Riddle was obsessed with his own death," Harry explained. "To avoid and delay death, he created soul jars, a piece of evil magic that required him to kill without remorse. In his quest for the supposed immortality promised by soul jars, he made six of them – five intentionally and one unintentionally."

After hearing Harry's story, McGonagall and Burbage downed calming potions.

Harry moved to grab the edge of a large invisibility cloak and pulled it off a magical painting of a potions table. Scattered on the table were five objects; the Diadem of Ravenclaw, a black leather book, the Cup of Hufflepuff, an ugly ring with the symbol of the House of Peverell on the stone, and Slytherin's Locket.

"You said there were six of these… items," Diggory said as he drank a calming potion.

"Yes, Minister. These five plus the one that once was housed here," Harry said pointing to the faint scar on his forehead. "That Halloween night, Tom Riddle killed my mother and split his soul again. One fragment flew off into the night but the other lodged here in my head."

"How did no one notice? Wouldn't healers have figured that out?" were mutterings in the small audience before Harry again snapped his fingers and the elf appeared with yet another painting, this one held the fragment that had been removed from Harry's scar. The whisper of Tom Riddle's soul floated on the canvas as it snarled and hissed like a snake at the gathered witches and wizards.

"This is the piece of Tom Riddle that was housed in my head for just over ten years," Harry admitted. "I found a way to move it into the painting at Christmas in 1991 and it's been captive in this magical painting ever since."

"Can it – he – get out?" Flitwick asked as he downed a calming potion with the reporters, editor, and photographer.

Shaking his head, Harry replied, "This painting is locked up almost as well as Gringotts vault."

"Now if you'll allow me…" Harry said as he lifted the magical canvas containing five soul jars above the spike and then dropped it; the sharp end of the spike broke through the canvas and the howls of the fragments of Tom Riddle's soul yowled in pain as they died.

"The magical painting is destroyed and the soul jars inside died with it," Harry stated before he motioned back to the painting with the single sliver of the dark lord's soul. The wisp of black smoke withered as though it was in great pain and alternated screaming invectives against the boy and everyone watching with crying out about the pain.

"I believe Tom's soul is in great pain," Harry said as he lifted this last painting above the spike and once again dropped it to be impaled and destroyed.

A single cry of pain was cut short as the Dark Lord Voldemort's last soul jar died.

In a deserted, manor house located in a village in the north of England, a large snake withered in agony for just a moment before it's head exploded. A wizard – Barty Crouch, Jr – who plotted with the spirit held inside the snake to return the dark lord to a body of some sort was careless and bitten by the snake's fangs during its death throes. The man collapsed and died beside the last vessel that held his beloved Dark Lord.

Again, Harry summoned his elf to bring a container of muggle gasoline and matches. Harry poured the fuel on the pile of canvases and then dropped a burning match on the pile to burn everything around the metal spike. When the metal spike stood blackened among the ashes, the witnesses began to move about once again; the reporters and photographer were first to want to leave.

"Thank you for coming today gentlemen," Harry said. He motioned Harold Farnsworth closer and then directed the wizard toward Ironstream and Sharpknife. The two goblins informed the editor that Heir Potter and the Black family now owned 63% of the Daily Prophet.

"The new owners have one mandatory requirement," Ironstream informed the editor.

"You must print the truth in your paper. Nothing reported as 'suggested' by the ministry, nothing with wild speculation or downright falsehood," Sharpknife insisted.

"Otherwise, the owners will fire you," Ironstream said.

"And Gringotts will call all your loans due that same day," Sharpknife said.

"So, just print the truth."

Upon his return to the Department of Mysteries in the Ministry of Magic, Unspeakable #23 immediately sought news about his counterpart, Unspeakable #54. The wizard was found bound and confounded in his private office. Once freed, he and the other Unspeakables determined that Unspeakable #47, Augustus Rookwood was missing, and when the head of the department consulted his records, he found the wizard listed as deceased by Dark Mark reaction to wards.

The wizard had attempted to infiltrate the destruction of Dark Lord Voldemort, possibly out of curiosity, or possibly to disrupt the process.

At the Daily Prophet, Harold Farnsworth asked his secretary to contact Rita Skeeter and bring the reporter to his office. Late in the day, his secretary informed the editor that Skeeter had not replied to her floo calls and that none of the post-Owls would take a message to her.

No one ever heard from Rita Skeeter again.

Amos Diggory recovered from the morning's excursion before Amelia Bones did. He kept his opinions to himself and at the time, didn't comment on the amount of power that Heir Potter and his relatives would hold in the future. He whistled a tune as he walked back to his office, considering how Augusta Longbottom seemed to be floundering suddenly.

Amos wondered if he should invite Ted and Andromeda Tonks to dinner once the new school year began and Heir Potter was back at Hogwarts. Mrs Diggory would certainly call on Mrs Tonks and her sister when they were available.

The professors returned outside the gates of Hogwarts. Severus opened the gate and held it for each of the others to enter before he closed it.

"Where's Hagrid?" wondered Minerva.

As they reached the doors, the head elf appeared, wringing her hands, "Miss Kitty, there's a terrible problem."

"What? What's happened?"

"Mr Whiskers… he and his minions be covered with dragon dung. They can't get clean! They make the headmaster's office stink and elves can't clean it!"

"It'll last for two weeks," Flitwick said. "Tell the elves to ignore the room for two weeks."

"But what about the smell?"

"We'll use charms on the staff table," Snape said as Charity Burbage began to giggle.

Pomona Sprout appeared as they came in the door and asked, "What did Potter do to Dumbledore now?"

"What do you mean, 'Potter'?" asked Charity, her wand appearing in her hand.

"Well, the headmaster is covered in dragon dung," Sprout replied. "This is just like the tricks James Potter and that no-good Sirius Black did time and again when they were here!"

Minerva showed Pomona the contract that each person had to sign.

"Mr Potter told everyone what would happen if they attempted to duplicate the port key and he could have 'caused them serious harm', so wearing dragon dung for a week or so isn't too 'sirius' when you consider…" Minerva said with a small smile on her face as she wiggled her fingers when she said 'sirius'.

Filius and Charity laughed at Minerva's pun, though Snape frowned, turned to Sprout and asked, "Who was in the room with Albus when he corrupted the port key?"

"Hagrid was closest to Dumbledore and kept most of the dung off Shacklebolt and Vance. The headmaster caught the dung in his face and beard," reported Pomona.

"There's not enough potions in the castle to hide the scent on Hagrid," Severus said. "Albus will have to soak for three or four days and I can hide most of the scent."

"No!" the house elf screamed. "Elves not scrub Whiskers in tub! No!"

SCENE 29 August 1994

The Daily Prophet's coverage of the end of Tom Riddle continued into a second day with additional photos of the event and the different paintings that Harry Potter destroyed to 'end' the Dark Lord.

When a prominent pureblood wizard rose in the Wizengamot that afternoon, he questioned the validity of Mr Potter's claims that the items in the first painting were indeed the missing founder's items. Then without any discussion, he immediately asked if the Ministry would be sending Mr Potter a bill for the loss of their value. These questions generated a great deal of murmurs and questions among the members.

To reply, Ted Tonks, as the proxy for both Black and Potter, rose.

"Does the good member, Alonzo Metcalf, understand that he has asked two diametrically opposed questions? First, he questions the validity of Heir Potter's claims to have of the artefacts of the founders of Hogwarts that are possessed by parts of the soul of Tom Riddle. Then he wants us to bill Heir Potter for their destruction."

Ted paused just a moment before continuing, "Well, which is it?"

Metcalf blushed as Tonks tore another strip from his hide saying, "And I am certain the honourable member will be good enough to share with us 'who' gave him these two questions though I imagine your patron meant you to throw out the first and when it was beaten down, as it properly should be, then he meant for you to bring up the second question to forestall any motion of an award to Heir Potter for ending the Dark Lord!"

"At least the boy did it properly this time!" shouted a voice from the back benches.

Ted grinned and asked, "You mean that you could have done better than Heir Potter in 1981 when he was only fifteen months old?"

The voice didn't return and Ted finished his argument saying, "And I doubt any of us could have done as well as the fourteen-year-old wizard who collected these horrible creations and then devised a way to destroy them so utterly."

"How do we know the Dark Lord is gone?" shouted a Dumbledore devotee. "What proof do you have that there's not more of these things?"

Minister Diggory rose and moved forward to speak while he held some formal-looking document in his hand. "I have here the Certificate of Death from Gringotts Bank, dated 27 this month, and it states that the wizard born Thomas Marvolo Riddle is without doubt, morally, legally, and completely dead."

"What does Dumbledore say about this?" inquired Lady Longbottom.

Ted grinned and replied, "Cousin, I understand that the headmaster and chief warlock is indisposed."

Augusta flinched to be reminded that this 'man' was a relative of the family she'd married into – he rather than she should be the Longbottom regent but the proof of his lineage had only appeared in the last two years.

"Dumbledore violated the contract Heir Potter forced everyone invited to the event to sign. When the headmaster attempted to duplicate the port key for arrival, it exploded."

"That's assault!" the Dumbledore minion declared.

"Assault? The port key exploded and only coated the headmaster with fresh dragon dung. I understand the dung and odour can't be removed for two weeks."

There were chuckles throughout the chamber and two reporters left for Hogwarts immediately to gather information, attempt to get photographs, and 'smell' for themselves what the children of Magical Britain would face on 1 September.

"What about an award for Heir Potter?" asked someone from the other side of the chamber.

"I still say Potter assaulted Dumbledore!" the same Dumbledore supporter shouted; Ted and Amos recognized the moves by two more players in the room to capitalize on the motion. To stop it, Minister Diggory motioned Amelia Bones to remain seated, and stared down Lady Longbottom who wanted to protest.

"If you press ahead with the notion that Harry Potter assaulted Dumbledore, then that means the headmaster is not capable of entering into a legal binding contract. You are stating here before the whole of Magical Britain that Albus Dumbledore did not know what he was doing when he signed the contract to attend Mr Potter's event on 27 August. That means Dumbledore is certainly not competent to hold office in this body or hold the position of headmaster. If this is true, then he should be – must be – committed to the Janus Thickery ward at St Mungo's today for a complete evaluation."

There was silence in the chamber as no one dared to further challenge Minister Diggory on the matter.

SCENE 31 August 1994

For two days, the headlines in the Daily Prophet brought attention to the terrible smell emanating from Hogwarts. The headmaster wasn't available for an interview but the gatekeeper Rubeus Hagrid was glad to share information about the events that led to both men being saturated with the pungent 'perfume' that was dragon dung.

**Mr Hagrid said, "The headmaster, he's a great man don't you know; he was determined to take us to protect Harry Potter from the Dark Lord. Harry didn't know what he was dealing with and Albus Dumbledore had to go rescue the boy again."**

When asked about the 'smell', Hagrid dismissed it as a natural defence for dragons to protect their dens.

"**And it'll wear off before the middle of September…" **

At the Ministry, Minister Diggory summoned the Director of the DMLE for an 'interview' in his office before noon. Wondering if she faced execution or simple dismissal, Amelia Bones arrived promptly at the minister's office. From behind the closed door of the office, everyone along the entire hallway could hear the raised voices of Augusta Longbottom and Amos Diggory.

"I don't care if you're Morgana reborn! If any more members come to me and complain that you've stopped paying bribes for their votes, I'll make Bones arrest you! Or she'll have to resign – you've tied your fates together so get your house in order!" Amos shouted.

"But I haven't paid bribes to anyone!" she shouted back.

"Great! Just make certain no one else complains that you've stopped paying them!"

"Who says that I have paid them bribes?"

Diggory listed off three names and Augusta promised they would not bother the Minister again.

Augusta Longbottom stormed out of the minister's office, refusing to acknowledge anyone as she stomped her way toward an apparition point to return to her home and destroy some china. Aurors and ministry flunkies stepped aside as the formidable witch left the building.

"Director Bones, step inside please," Diggory called through the open door. Once it was closed once again, and the witch was seated before his desk, the Minister used his wand to cast detection and finite spells. Then, Amos sat in his sturdy chair and stared at his Director of the DMLE.

"I don't want to be here today," he said with resignation evident that his obligations to the office overrode his familial desires. "Tomorrow, my only child leaves for his seventh year at Hogwarts and the next time he comes home, he'll be a man. This is the last day of his childhood and I have to be here because you and Augusta Longbottom are making waves in the Wizengamot."

Bones thought briefly of her niece, Susan, who would begin her fourth year tomorrow, but quickly brought her attention back to the minister.

"In the last two days, I have had three members of the Wizengamot come to me and complain that Longbottom has stopped paying them bribes to vote in favour of her proposals or to oppose those of other members. They expected me to be sympathetic and help them get the flow of galleons restored; apparently Cornelius Fudge stuck his hand into everyone's bag of galleons regularly."

"I can't believe that Lady Longbottom would…"

Diggory shrugged, "I don't care what happened in the past regarding bribes, rumours of bribes, threats or blackmail in obtaining votes to get measures passed or blocked. Some of that will occur in any government office. What I am concerned about is tomorrow and the next day."

"Yes, Minister Diggory."

"Our budgets are solid except for the payment that was paid for Sirius Black…"

"That's the money! That's where the bribes…"

Diggory cleared his throat and said, "Actually you're completely wrong. Treasury traced the galleons paid to Black. Half of the twelve million went to the goblins – they charged Lord Black a high price to help clear his name. The other six million was divided equally between Harry Potter, Andromeda Tonks, and Narcissa Black, and from what my treasury wizards tell me, it's still sitting in their vaults at Gringotts today."

Amelia frowned and waited for Diggory to fire her but he surprized her by asking a simple question, "Do you hope to be the Minister for Magic someday?"

Trying to be honest, Amelia nodded her head once and Amos said, "Then will you listen to my advice?"

"Advice, Minister?"

"Free advice without penalty or cost," Amos confirmed.

Amelia narrowed her eyes as she examined the offer but then replied, "I will be glad to hear your advice, sir."

He snorted at the Slytherin-like answer but went ahead. "If you want to be Minister someday; if you want to continue as Director of the DMLE with increasing budgets, then you and your family must stop alienating the Blacks and Potter."

"He's just a boy!" Bones retorted angrily.

The minister nodded his head in agreement but then reminded Amelia Bones, "Harry Potter is the boy-who-lived, and the teenager-who-killed-Voldemort a second time this summer. He's also the young wizard who slapped Dumbledore in the face with dragon dung without penalty."

Diggory grinned as he added, "Even Cedric refers to the headmaster as 'Dumblesquat' now."

"I don't see the connection, Minister," Amelia said in confusion.

Amos leaned forward and asked, "Do you understand the position you and your niece threw away this summer?"

"Susan? Threw away? What are you talking about?"

"The Longbottom boy… he was Harry Potter's best friend and Potter looked at Augusta Longbottom as a trusted advisor. The betrothal to keep the Bones family name could have brought you personally into alliance with Potter if you and Susan hadn't poisoned the Abbots, and Augusta against Harry Potter and his godfather."

"Sirius Black wasn't stable! His years at Hogwarts with those other boys, they…"

Amos lifted one hand. "A line continuation agreement with Harry Potter would have set the Bones family up for two or three generations. Can you imagine the power his children will have, not to mention a solid political base?"

Amelia Bones shook her head, "The boy's been badly influence by Sirius Black!"

"Black had custody of the boy for just over a month before he died. You're still pissed that Potter complained about you attempting to read his mind."

Amelia refused to discuss the matter and Diggory rose from his desk, saying, "I see we're wasting each other's time here today. Please consider my warning. At the very least, insist that your extended family assume a position of neutrality toward the Potter boy."

As the director headed for the door, Amos called out, "Dumbledore is going to be out of the country for almost ten months this year – think of the good you could help implement while he's watching children play games in the south of France."

00**OO**00

SCENE Hogwarts Express

The floo flashed with green flames as Harry Potter stepped from fireplace in a room at Kings Cross train station. He didn't fall or stumble but his mind flashed back to the memory of Sirius introducing him to travel by floo early in the summer.

That night felt as if it were several years in the past but the boy-who-lived smiled remembering his 'dogfather's' laughter that night and many other times. As Andromeda Tonks stepped from the flames, she noticed the far-away look in Harry's eyes and knew he was remembering something sad and happy at the same time. She moved closer to her 'nephew' to give Ted room to step out as she slipped a hand into Harry's.

"There was one year when Ted and I brought Sirius and James to Kings Cross. Dora wasn't born yet and your grandparents were busy with something. They were thirteen I think, and Sirius'd spent the entire summer with your Dad's parents. They were laughing and very glad to see their friends. We stayed for only a few minutes because they were embarrassed to have 'chaperones'," Andy told Harry. Ted grinned and agreed.

"I bet they were terrors on the train!" Harry said, thinking about the stories of the pranks the marauders played on the staff and students during their years at Hogwarts.

"I believe the prefects actually sat on them a few times," Ted said. "And we don't want to hear that kind of report this week either!"

Harry grinned and promised to behave. Rather than rush to find a place to sit on the train, Harry remained on the platform with Andromeda and Ted who stayed as long as their 'nephew' needed when they recognized his hesitation. The older couple spoke to many acquaintances and a few friends with children. Few students from his year spoke to Harry though the older and younger students were eager to talk to him.

Cedric Diggory sought out Harry and asked for an introduction to his guardians. Recognizing the political move, Harry didn't begrudge the 'puff the introduction – he needed a few allies in that house.

When a large group of people came through the doorway at one time, Harry found that his former friend, Neville Longbottom had arrived with an entourage; Susan Bones on one side and Hannah Abbot on the other, and three guardians following behind. They walked as if expecting the crowd of people to part for them but students and parents ignored their formation and first Susan was separated, then the Abbots moved in another direction.

"Too many muggles today," Augusta commented though Neville frowned and corrected his grandmother.

"These are all magical folk, Gran! There aren't any muggles allowed on the platform!"

Augusta frowned and her temper proved to be short but before she could berate her grandson, he turned aside and said, "I'll write once a month. Goodbye."

Neville didn't hug or kiss the old witch and her frown only deepened to watch her grandson vanish into the Hogwarts Express without a glance back or a wave. As she turned around, she noticed the Boy-Who-Lived bracketed by his guardians.

There were no smiles, no nods of recognition, and nothing of respect or cooperation between the two families. Harry kept his eyes on Susan and her aunt as Amelia sent her niece off with a pat on the arm before turning and leaving the girl to find her way onto the train.

"It's time, Harry," Ted said as Andromeda teared up and hugged him.

"You'll be fine! You'll do great again this year," she assured him.

"I've never had anyone here to say 'good-bye' before," Harry admitted. "Promise me that you'll be here next summer when I come back."

"And at Christmas and at Spring Break!" Ted assured the boy.

Andromeda snorted, "And you know we'll have to come to Hogwarts every time that Whiskers tries to put his hand into your book bag!"

"Ugh," Harry said with a truly sour look on his face. "Now I need to bleach my mind of that image! No fair, Aunt!"

He hugged each adult twice before running to the train. At the door way, he turned around to see them waving and laughing.

"Maybe this will be a good year," Harry thought to himself. Walking the length of the train, Harry found a compartment with Luna Lovegood and Colin Creevey talking with a few firsties.

"Harry! Welcome!" Luna said with her always cheerful smile. "Come and join us, Mr Boy-Who-Stomped Tom Riddle again this summer."

"Luna…" Colin warned.

Harry stepped into the compartment and said, "It's okay Colin. The Daily Prophet prints the truth now."

"And takes all the fun out of yellow journalism," Luna whined theatrically. "Everyone must print the truth!"

The firsties were excited about their first trip to Hogwarts and the sorting ceremony. There were no visitors during the entire trip and Harry pulled out his shrunken robes to put on over his regular muggle clothes about an hour before the arrival in Hogsmeade. He helped the firsties with their trunks to remove their robes. Everyone had similar outer robes now that the fashions from Harry's first two years had changed the styles of robes for students permanently.

"Harry, I have something for you," Luna said as the firsties hurried out of the train.

"What?" Harry asked as the Ravenclaw pulled a thin book from her robe pocket and handed it to him. Before he could even read the title, Luna was out the door – she had friends in every house except for her own it appeared because she was in a carriage with girls from Slytherin and Hufflepuff when Harry exited the train.

'Passing Your NEWTs/OWLs Early' was the name of the pamphlet published in the 1940s. The preface stated that the British Ministry understood the pressures on students to help with the war effort against Gellert Grindelwald and so measures had been put in place to allow qualified students to take their Newts and/or Owls early.

Harry knew the Ministry for Magic was an institution that never rescinded a regulation, so this measure was still in place!

The memory of a conversation with Sirius flooded back into Harry's mind and his face broke out in a smile. Perhaps he had a way to escape Magical Britain a year early and he could catch everyone off guard.

The crowd outside the train was moving away from the train quickly and when Harry joined them, he discovered why; Hagrid was at the station but the odour from his hair, beard, and clothing was so foul that Professor Burbage had no trouble getting the firsties to the boats to carry them across the lake. Everyone else ran to carriages that moved quickly up the path to the castle.

Inside the castle, friends greeted each other and made their way into the Great Hall. Harry finally noticed Neville again; the Gryffindor was seated at the Hufflepuff table with Susan Bones on one side and Hannah Abbot on the other. His back was to the Gryffindor table so Harry passed on the other side without comment or exchanging glances.

When Dumbledore appeared, there was an obvious shield or ward around him (possibly both), to keep the odour from driving the staff and students away. The headmaster's hair, face, and beard were still streaked with black dragon dung. Harry hid the feeling of satisfaction from showing on his face but he decided Winky would be rewarded with new pots and pans for her kitchen.

'_She said it wouldn't wash away for a month. New pots and pans? Heck, Winky can have anything she wants!'_ Harry decided.

00**OO**00

When given this wonderful news by Mr Harry Potter, Winky asked for one thing and one thing only – she wanted to have an elfling with Dobby Potter Elf. Without hesitation, Harry gave his smallest elf permission to have a baby as soon as she wanted.

00**OO**00

SCENE Summoned to Headmaster's office

At the conclusion of the meal, before Harry could escape, Professor McGonagall approached and told him that the headmaster wanted to speak with him as soon as possible.

"Professor, the instructions from my guardians are that they must be present as well as my head of house, when the headmaster wishes to speak to me."

McGonagall sighed; she'd battled all week already with Dumbledore as he attempted to find reasons not to grant the request to provide Harry with 'heir's quarters'. Professor Burbage joined with her in the counter arguments to no avail.

"It will take some time to reach them on the floo," Minerva said. "Can you just go this once…"

Harry had his wand out and cast his Patronus, the little house elf on a muggle bicycle left with a message just moments later.

"They'll be waiting when you open the floo in your office," Harry responded.

"I don't want to walk all the way…"

"Then perhaps Professor Burbage can properly welcome my guardians," Harry again offered as his Patronus left once again.

Professor Burbage passed them and said, "I'll escort Mr and Mrs Tonks to the headmaster's office but Mr Potter, you are not to go inside until we are there with you."

"Yes, ma'am," Harry replied respectfully.

McGonagall frowned and as she began escorting Harry toward the headmaster's office, she complained, "Do you know the amount of extra work you've created this year already?"

"Me, professor?"

"Yes, you! Wards and charms to try and hide that smell, meeting after meeting about separate quarters for you, and then the demands of your guardians the other day!"

"But professor, I didn't attempt to duplicate the port key that sprayed Professor Dumblesquat with dragon dung."

"That'll be detention for disrespecting the headmaster," McGonagall said sharply.

"And I didn't ask for anything different than what you gave Longbottom and Bones as heirs. How was that more work for Dumblesquat?"

"Detention!" the deputy headmistress said with a plainly angry tone.

"And I gotta say that it's nice for an adult to be on my side since you never were when you were the head of Gryffindor house!"

"Detention!" she shouted as they reached the gargoyle where the other adults had not arrived. Giving the gargoyle the password, the stairs began moving, and McGonagall motioned toward the steps but Harry shook his head.

"My head of house instructed me…"

"Detention every night from now until Christmas!" McGonagall shouted in Harry's face, with spittle flying and hitting the boy in the face.

"How dare you speak to my nephew in this unprofessional manner!" Andromeda Tonks said coldly as she appeared with her husband and Professor Burbage. "I thought you were going to turn over a new leaf and try to be an effective deputy administrator and not Dumblesquat's lapdog this year."

Harry wiped McGonagall's spit from his face and grinned, "See, everyone calls him Dumblesquat now."

Burbage sighed and cast finites at McGonagall for two minutes but the deputy's expression didn't change.

"Mr Potter is being rude and argumentative tonight! He's earned his detentions."

"For the entire fall term on the first night?" asked Ted. "I believe an appeal to the governors will get this overturned. Don't bother to attend any of the detentions, Harry."

+00+OO+00+

Minerva McGonagall sat up in her bed with a scream. It took her a moment but then she realized she was in her bed and Harry Potter hadn't decided to emulate his father and godfather in their fourth year. Fleamont Potter believed both boys should get away with all their pranks.

The deputy headmistress lay back, attempting to sleep again, but her mind kept reviewing the meeting earlier in the evening with Dumbledore and Harry Potter with his guardians; it had been surreal with bubblehead charms and contentious conversation.

+00+OO+00+

"Now, Harry…"

"Headmaster Dumbledore, I have previously asked you not to address my nephew with such familiarity," Andromeda interrupted Albus. "You may refer to him as 'Heir Potter' or as 'Mr Potter', but you may not refer to him as 'Harry', 'my boy,' or 'dear boy'. Are we clear?"

"But I have always thought of Harry as an honorary grandson," Dumbledore insisted.

"And when have you ever shown those thoughts in any manner to support my nephew?"

"Harry is not your nephew!" insisted Albus.

Andromeda inclined her head. "That's technically true but we are cousins, he is the adopted son of my cousin Sirius Black, and by his will, I am his guardian and my husband is the Potter proxy until Harry wants to take the seat."

"Aunt Andromeda and Uncle Ted have helped me when my godfather died. Why would you want to talk about my family? I don't appreciate it!" Harry scolded the headmaster.

Andromeda slipped her arm around Harry's shoulders and pulled him close while Ted stepped forward and blocked Dumbledore's sight of the boy.

"Why did you insist on speaking to our nephew tonight? It's been a long day," Ted asked with his short temper evident in his tone.

"Perhaps it would be better to wait until tomorrow…"

"No."

"But if Harry – uh – Mr Potter is tired…"

"You will have to wait until we can both come back to Hogwarts to meet with my nephew," Andy pressed. "You are forbidden from speaking to him without us and his head of house present!"

"That is not acceptable!"

Minerva stepped forward as she tried to deal with the headache that was starting to pound in her brain, "Headmaster, what did you want to speak to Mr Potter about?"

Albus rubbed his beard absent-mindedly and then realized that he'd rubbed his hand in dragon dung again. Glancing up he saw the ever-present bubble charms around each head and faces filled with laughter at his expense that couldn't be hid behind hands – the bubblehead charm prevented their hands from covering their smirks.

"I must insist on Har… Mr Potter explaining this misuse of magical paintings! How can he fling items into magical paintings? And I understand he killed multiple portraits from the Malfoy manor this summer 'testing' how to mutilate the paintings."

"To the best of my knowledge Headmaster Dumbledore, my nephew has mastered a bit of family magic," Andy said from behind her husband. "I know that family magic is only revealed through hard work and devotion to family."

"The Potter family never had such magic!"

"How do you know?" asked Ted.

Dumbledore smiled as he wiped attempted to wipe his hand clean on a handkerchief. "James Potter told me many of his family secrets in the years after graduation."

"No, he didn't," Harry replied. "Sirius said you asked for secrets from Dad and from Sirius but they couldn't tell you. Family magic won't let us tell anyone."

"But you showed it to many people that day!" Dumbledore pointed out. "Surely you can tell us how you did it."

"Professor Flitwick told you the same thing that Mr Potter is telling you now, headmaster," Minerva reminded him. "A powerful shield covered Potter's hands and wand during the demonstration. Even the Unspeakables can't duplicate it."

"But this knowledge must be put to use for the Greater Good! We could use magical paintings as prisons rather than sending people to Azkaban!"

"Would you lock someone away in a magical painting, Headmaster Dumbledore?"

"Rather than kill them, yes!" he said.

Harry looked thoughtful but no one in the room understood that he was making himself feel better about locking Remus and Peter away for many months. If Dumbledore thought that prison more suitable than death, he'd worry less about having done it.

"If that is all, headmaster?" asked Professor Burbage. "The bubble head charms are beginning to waver."

"They've only be cast for twenty minutes!" the headmaster argued.

"Yes, but the charm has to deal with the power of dragon dung and it's taxing the limits of the spell after twenty minutes."

"Oh, very well," Dumbledore said.

"Come along, Mr and Mrs Tonks, I have to take Mr Potter to his new quarters and you can see them at the same time he does," Burbage said as they descended the spiral staircase.

"Wait! I changed my mind! Harry needs to stay in the dorm…"

But the visitors were gone and Minerva shook her head. "When did you forget to choose your battles more carefully? Did you win every battle for so many years that you've forgotten that new wizards may not believe every word from your mouth is the gospel?"

Then McGonagall was gone and Dumbledore rose to try and clean his hands. The elves would only enter his chambers once a day to remove all the soiled garments to burn them. He had three weeks in this smelly hell left and he hoped he had enough robes to last that long.

Fawkes would not visit, and the portraits of previous headmasters had been removed once again. He was alone in the silence of his office and it stank to high heaven.

00**OO**00

SCENE Chance to Attend Tri-Wizard Tournament

Hogwarts seemed to be extraordinarily welcoming to the students this year – the Dementors were gone, everyone was calm and focused on their classes during the month of September. The seventh-year students were given the option of going to Beauxbatons or remaining at Hogwarts to study for their NEWTS. Two Slytherin and three Ravenclaws chose the option of remaining behind – all five of them were hopeful of excelling in potions and Professor Snape had refused any notion of 'attending a year of games in a foreign land'.

With five places on the train open, Dumbledore experienced a brainstorm. Once again, Andy and Ted found themselves called to Hogwarts for a meeting between their nephew and Albus Dumbledore.

They stepped from the floo at Grimmauld Place directly into the headmaster's office where Harry, Minerva, and Charity waited for them. The smell was much dismissed but bubblehead charms were recommended by the deputy headmistress.

"We had to throw out the robes after that last visit," Andy confided to Minerva.

"The smell is long gone," Dumbledore remarked cheerfully from behind his desk and the phoenix laughed, a loud honking noise.

"Your nose is just immune to the odour," Charity explained to the headmaster. "You must replace your wardrobe before you leave for Beauxbatons but you can't have any of those robes here in this office! Use a different office until you leave at the end of October, Headmaster, please! You mustn't go to France smelling like dragon dung!"

Waving away the witch's worries, Dumbledore turned his attention to Harry Potter, ignoring his guardians completely.

"Now, Mr Potter, I have an unusual opportunity for you," the headmaster began. "We have several of our seventh-year students who unfortunately can't make the trip to Beauxbatons. That has opened up five slots for other students to attend and I wanted to offer the first one to you."

"You'd leave with the rest of us on 28 October, travel through the magic tunnel under the ocean to France and then continue on through Paris and the rest of the country to Beauxbatons, in the Pyrenees. There, we shall spend the winter and spring while the three contestants compete in the Tri-Wizard Tournament."

Without glancing at Andy and Ted, Harry immediately responded, "No thank you, headmaster. I've got no interest in going to the Tri-Wizard tournament."

"But, my boy, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity to see another culture, see new magic performed there, and experience the Tri-Wizard Tournament.

Harry shook his head. "No. I want to experience a year at Hogwarts without giant snakes, crazy professors, and Dementors floating all around. I'll stay here."

Frowning, Dumbledore turned to the guardians and appealed to them, "Andromeda, Ted, surely you see the possibilities here for young Harry? This is an excellent opportunity for him…"

"No, Albus," Andy replied, using his first name to match his own disrespectful use of her name. "My nephew has stated twice that he has no interest. And for Merlin's sake, remember to address him properly as Mr Potter!"

Sitting back in his throne, disappointment evident on his face, Dumbledore attempted to 'reason' with Andromeda and Theodore Tonks about the educational opportunity that this presented for their 'nephew'.

McGonagall interrupted at this point and asked, "Mr Potter evidently is not interested. Who else do you have in mind?"

The expression on his face made it clear that Dumbledore had not thought of asking any other students to travel with the seventh-year students to Beauxbatons but he recovered and asked, "Who would you recommend? Perhaps if we find others, then Mr Potter will be interested."

+00*OO*00+

Susan Bones heard the rumours about the spaces on the train to Beauxbatons and she convinced her Aunt, Lady Longbottom and the Abbots that the time away from Hogwarts would help the three of them – Neville, Hannah, and Susan – to bond. She also convinced two more fourth-year 'puff girls to agree to go and so Professor Sprout was 'voluntold' that she would chaperone the five fourth-year students during the trip.

Professors Sinistra, Shacklebolt and Vance would also travel and stay with the Hogwarts contingent under the leadership of Headmaster Albus Dumbledore. When Dumbledore refused to reconsider taking both DADA professors with him, McGonagall hired Alastor Moody to provide that instruction for the balance of the year.

The entire school witnessed the blow up when Neville Longbottom called Susan Bones a selfish bully at breakfast after reading the letter from his grandmother informing him of his participation in the trip. The Great Hall echoed with their screams at one another.

"I don't want to go! Hannah doesn't want to go! You're just forcing us to go so you prove to everyone that you always get your way! Just like everything else it's all about Susan Bones! Nothing matters but what Susan wants!" Neville shouted before he stalked from the Great Hall and wasn't seen again that day.

+00*OO*00+

On Friday, 29 October 1994, the Hogwarts Express left Hogsmeade for London with Albus Dumbledore, four professors, forty-three seventh-year students, and five of the fourth-year students. After eating supper at Kings Cross Station and sleeping on the train, the Hogwarts contingent left London on the Express before dawn and travelled through the Chunnel, across Northern France, around Paris and through France for the rest of the day until they reached the southwestern corner of France. The train arrived before sunset at Beauxbatons Academy of Magic, with the tired, hungry, and dirty headmaster, staff and students. They had stopped only once for a meal outside of Paris.

The first letters back to Hogwarts told of the terrible trip and the lukewarm greeting from the Beauxbatons students. Worse still, upon arrival the students and staff discovered that they were stuck spending the entire year except for class time and meals aboard their train. There were plenty of compartments for the students and staff but the loos didn't offer bathing chambers and the sleeping arrangements were very cramped.

00**OO**00

SCENE News from France in Daily Prophet

Halloween was fun that year for Harry and the other students. The students at Hogwarts celebrated the night with floating jack-o-lanterns, treats, and jokes in good nature. There were no creatures breaking into the school, and no missing or petrified professors. Minerva McGonagall made certain to mention none of this in her reply when an owl arrived from Dumbledore with news that Cedric Diggory had been selected to represent Hogwarts in the Tri-Wizard Tournament.

The students became more interested in the tournament with Cedric's selection and the magical pictures in the Daily Prophet. Some of the girls had copies of Witch Weekly with more pictures and wild stories of the love affairs that Cedric was involved with at Beauxbatons – apparently, he dated half of the school on a daily basis.

00**OO**00

The quiet atmosphere at Hogwarts proved to be everything Harry had hoped for, allowing him to study and prepare for next spring. There were no major problems and the only excitement came through Hogsmeade weekends, Alastor Moody's DADA classes, and guest speakers that McGonagall arranged for different classes.

00**OO**00

For Care of Magical Creatures, Newt Scamander came to Hogwarts and gave a Saturday lecture on different creatures. During the question and answer period students asked about dragons, nifflers, erumpents, and hippogriffs. Harry raised his hand and asked about Nundus.

"Why are you interested in Nundus Mr…?"

"Potter, sir," Harry replied. "I have a magical painting of one and wondered what you could tell me about it."

"Does it have a mane of spikes?"

"No sir."

"Then it is a female and likely to be very territorial. Males will roam about the area but females are very territorial."

"Thank you, Mr Scamander!" Harry responded enthusiastically.

After the lecture, Scamander sought out the boy and asked where he'd acquired a magical painting of a Nundu. Harry hesitated for a moment before he explained that he'd inherited it from his godfather's estate.

"I'm asking because there was one famous painting that sold at an auction thirty years or so ago but I never did hear who bought it."

"That's probably my painting," Harry said.

"Can I see it please?" Newt asked. "I worked with a young male Nundu once but never a female. I'd like to see her."

With the permission of the deputy headmistress, Harry took Newt Scamander back to his private quarters.

"Wow, I remember a couple kids having these rooms when I was in school here but they were never this comfortable."

"I have the bestest elves in the whole world," Harry told the wizard as he led him over to the large painting of the African plain. Scamander was amazed by the detail of the grass and trees, and he was surprized by the constant appearance of different creatures on the canvas.

"How do you get the animals to always show up?"

"The artist included it in the charms she used to create the painting. Whenever there is someone specifically looking at the painting, some of the creatures will appear to eat grass or drink water."

Well, this can't be the painting I was thinking about," Newt said. "The one I heard about was a small frame with just the Nundu."

"That's where my Nundu came from," Harry said motioning toward a different wall where the deserted frame hung. "My Nundu was living here before I got the larger painting for her."

As they stood there, the Nundu stuck her head into the frame and then padded forward to brush up against the canvas where Harry's hand lay, and then blinked carefully as she studied the visitor.

"Definitely a mature female. Shame she doesn't have a mate because it seems she likes you enough to keep her kitten here where you could watch it grow," Scamander said. "Absolutely beautiful! Look at that coat but the painter got the eyes wrong. Nundus don't have green eyes."

"Would you have a picture of a mature male Nundu, Mr Scamander, or know where I could get one?"

"I have one I will loan you," Newt replied. "Are you thinking of asking an artist to paint one to join her?"

"Yes," Harry replied.

"Be careful, there are unscrupulous wizards out there who will take your galleons and deliver shoddy work – the painting might never wake up or the creature isn't good enough and…" motioning with his head toward the painting, Newt warned, "…your Nundu will kill and eat him."

"I know the perfect artist," Harry said.

00**OO**00

SCENE News of the First Task

Throughout November Harry compared the fourth-year textbooks against the fifth year text books for Charms, Transfiguration, Potions, Arithmancy, and Runes. He found that by studying fifth year material immediately after fourth year work, he could master those spells and wand movements. Fifth year was simply adding power to the theory taught in fourth year and Harry Potter had plenty of magical power.

At the first opportunity he found, he formed a study group of students from fourth and fifth year to revise their homework assignments. He also started study groups for the third, second, and first year students that blurred house lines.

'_If you wanted to be superior about Slytherin, you often found yourself studying by yourself and falling behind.' _

00**OO**00

In a telling conversation, Deputy Headmistress McGonagall and Professor Burbage discussed prefects for the next year – Harry Potter was the clear choice for boys in Gryffindor. With the absence of Susan Bones and Hannah Abbot from the Hufflepuffs this year, Sally Everhart had quickly risen to the top and helped with everyone in fourth year and below.

"Pomona reports nothing but problems with her four 'puffs at Beauxbatons. Susan and Neville fight continually and Hannah is at her wits end trying to placate both of them. The other two girls are sneaking out with the seventh-year boys every chance they get."

00**OO**00

Before the scheduled day of the first task at Beauxbatons, Nexia finished with her magical painting of the male Nundu. She painted him just slightly larger than the female, but with the beautiful mane of spikes, large feet and a long tail. This was only the second painting Mr Harry Potter specifically asked for and the talented house elf wanted it to be perfect. Without any hesitation, she brushed the magical potion over the canvas and then stood back.

00**OO**00

Late in the afternoon, Harry rushed into his private chambers with a copy of the Daily Prophet, Ernie McMillian following behind. Dragons! Cedric and the other champions had faced dragons in the first task!

"How did Cedric survive facing a mother dragon?" asked Harry imagining the great beasts in an arena.

"Because he's the best 'puff in the world!" Ernie replied with just as much excitement in his voice. They spread the newspaper on a desk and made appropriate noises when they saw the looping pictures of Cedric with his conjured animals and then racing out of the arena with his golden egg.

It wasn't until Ernie left to prepare for supper, that Harry noticed the new magical painting hanging on the wall opposite from the 'den' of his Nundu. The male sat very still as though studying Harry as a potential meal.

"Oh wow!" Harry breathed. "Nexia, he looks great!"

The little elf popped into the room and tilted her head first one way and then the other, before saying, "Nexia think he's being good work. Woke up fast but that might be from smelling the Africa painting."

"Can they smell things outside their canvas?"

The elf shrugged and said, "Maybe. Nexia never worried about it."

"Snot!" Harry called with growing excitement.

The elf popped into the room and bowed, "Yes Mr Harry Potter?"

"We have a new friend," Harry said motioning toward the painting of the male Nundu. Staring at the creature's eyes, Snot shrank back and the Nundu's ears flicked, registering that he'd noticed the elf's movement.

"Mr Harry Potter must not keep getting such creatures!" Snot demanded. "You'll bring a real one home and it'll eat your elves and then eat you!"

"Snot Potter Elf, please release the Nundu into the African plain," Harry said with exaggerated formality and an imperious wave.

"Boy-who-lived turning into teenager-who-drives-elf-mad! It is no mystery why witches and wizards lock teenagers up in castle in the north of Scotland for ten months out of the year!" the elf grumbled loudly before wiggling his fingers.

The Nundu slowly turned his head from the canvas that was his den – a rocky cave in the side of a mountain and found the opening with blue sky and scents beckoning him. With a fluid grace the cat rose and silently padded his way to the opening where he sniffed and carefully looked about before rocketing out of the opening, speeding across the canvas of the other painting and disappearing into the tall grass.

"He's gone! He's gone!" Snot celebrated. But Nexia and Harry exchanged glances and smiled.

00**OO**00

SCENE Christmas Ball in France

At breakfast in the Great Hall, Harry had an 'ah-ha' moment. It was a morning in late November and students were beginning to contemplate going home for the winter break, Harry sat at his usual place and ate his breakfast while glancing at the Daily Prophet. The lead article today was again about the Tri-Wizard Tournament with a Yuletide Ball to be held on 25 December. The reporter mentioned how the Hogwarts Express had been expanded inside to provide students with larger bathrooms, sleeping cabins, and common rooms.

Chuckling to himself, Harry made his way to the staff table and asked his head of house for a private word before the day began. Charity came down from the platform and sat with Harry who opened the paper and showed her the pictures of the expanded rooms in the Hogwarts Express. Then he asked a question that made Professor Burbage sit back with her mouth hanging open.

"Burbage, what has that boy said to you now?" asked McGonagall, dreading to hear the answer.

"He's… Mr Potter…" Charity stumbled for a moment and then said, "Mr Potter just asked me how we're sending the students home for the Winter Break when the Hogwarts Express is stuck at Beauxbatons until the end of June."

Silence fell across the Great Hall as more students realized what Harry had just pointed out. Before anyone could panic, McGonagall rose and said, "There will be arrangements made without any problem. We can use the floo system to send students to London or to any other home with a floo. Parents can use apparition to come retrieve you…"

"That sounds too easy, Minerva," Professor Flitwick added. "Surely we can add a wrinkle or two in there somewhere!"

Even with Flitwick's joke, Minerva and the other staff members were pleased at the reaction of parents; many were pleased not to have make the trip to London. The muggleborns took a little extra time with a staff member waiting at the Leaky Cauldron for the muggle parents to appear outside and collect the students.

00**OO**00

Only Aunt Narcissa was at home when Harry appeared through the floo and he was so amazed at her pregnancy belly that they spent over an hour talking about the baby. When 'Antares' began kicking, Narcissa guided Harry's hand to the spot and he felt the proof of his future cousin.

The happiness Harry felt about Narcissa's baby was matched with the news from Dobby and Winky that they were expecting an elfling in a few weeks as well.

That night, there was a merry dinner around the dining room table at the previously dour home in London.

00**OO**00

When packing for the ten days in London, Harry agreed to leave the paintings of the Nundus and the African plains at Hogwarts. There were windows in the room so the animals in the paintings knew when it was day and night 'outside' though the painting still had sunshine from the African sun. He did bring home the castle painting because he intended to fly as much as possible over the holiday.

Nexia was working on details in a library painting for Mr Harry Potter that would contain the whole of the Black Family Library. She knew the task would take until spring but Miss Narcissa Black appreciated presence of hardworking elves around her as she contemplated the coming birth of her second child.

Miss Narcissa visited the library once a day to select a book of history or fashions to read in the afternoon. She'd seen Harry's castle painting propped up in the library near the windows and asked the elf about it.

"That be the painting where Mr Harry Potter goes flying on his broomstick, Miss Black. He's in there flying now with the phoenix Fawkes," Nexia replied as she continued with her brush on a series of books on counter curses.

"Why would Harry want to fly around Nuremgard? That's where Grindelwald plotted to destroy the world!"

00**OO**00

It was almost five minutes later that the elf suddenly froze, her paint brush in mid-air as Miss Narcissa's words registered in the elf's mind. Slightly hysterical, Nexia called Snot and Dobby and explained the comment from Miss Black about the painting.

"I'm going in!" declared Snot without a moment's hesitation. "Dobby remain here and guard the house and the women!"

"Guard the women?" Nexia asked scornfully. "Guard the women!"

"There's babies coming!" Snot argued and that made the independent elf back down but she snapped her fingers, throwing herself into the painting only to be followed by Snot a moment later. Far overhead, they could make out the specs that represented Harry and Fawkes, his flying companion over the castle.

00**OO**00

Conjuring a broom, Snot took off for his wizard in the air, while Nexia examined the painting, admiring the detail and the use of elven and wizarding magic. The elves (at least three had helped to paint this huge castle with forest and village of Austrians) and wizard (a renowned portrait painter) were all dead now. Nexia began popping her way toward the castle, then inside. The painted guards were less detailed than necessary to have individuality but they could move and follow directions from wizards.

She found a well-furnished castle with a large library that contained many real books, and large rooms for dining, sitting, sleeping and bathing. As she came to the top of the castle, she found three portraits that gave her pause.

First, was a painting of a wizard in a cell, wasting away with time and age. It was a magical portrait of a peculiar type that would never animate but merely record the aging of the subject. When he died, the painting would fade away.

The second and third paintings were of two, young and powerful wizards frozen in canvas until the moment after their death in the real world. There was so much magic in the canvas from the painter, the elves, and from surrounding painting, that Nexia wondered if the two portraits could 'see' her now.

"Bloody hell," came the voice of Mr Harry Potter as he, Snot, and Fawkes entered the chamber from a balcony. They'd landed on the balcony and run into the room, searching for Nexia.

Fawkes flew to her perch in a corner and began to hum, filling the atmosphere with magic. Then she turned into a ball of fire and disappeared.

"That's why she comes here," Harry told Snot. "This was once her home."

"And that's Albus Dumbledore when he was a young man," Snot said before he pointed at the other portrait. "But who is this other wizard?"

"That's Gellert Grindelwald," Nexia said. "All elves who paint are taught about him. He bought elves to paint grand masterpieces of halls, castles, and mountains where his face was carved into the rock."

00**OO**00

"Grindelwald? Didn't Dumbledore kill him at the end of World War II?" asked Harry.

"Apparently not," Nexia replied, pointing toward the portrait that showed the old wizard still alive and confined behind bars in the real Nuremgard Castle.

The artistic elf continued with her explanation, "Mr Harry Potter, this is a 'Happily Ever After' magical painting. These paintings are rare and only the richest wizards can afford them with great castles and dragons guarding their treasure, but I don't think I've ever heard of one with this much detail or this much magic."

"Explain, please," Snot asked the artist with her tiny hands and large eyes.

"These portraits of Albus Dumbledore and Gellert Grindelwald have stood here for… many years…"

"Since 1948," Harry said reading the placard beside the portraits. "They were mounted to the walls in 1948 and that was forty-six years ago."

"And the day that these wizards die in the real world, they'll wake up and step out of the canvas into this castle that elves and wizards painted for them," Nexia said.

She pointed to the magic wands laying on a nearby table and added, "They'll be powerful… they've been soaked in magic for all these years and they'll be able to use these wands in here at least."

"They won't be able to get out, will they?" asked Harry.

00**OO**00

Snot, Nexia and Harry pooled their knowledge about Grindelwald. How he'd risen to power in Europe in the twenties and thirties, helping to bring the entire world into conflict again.

"When Dumbledore defeated Grindelwald in 1945, everyone thought that was the end of the matter. He'd killed the dark wizard and became a celebrated hero," Snot confirmed.

Harry looked around, 'seeing' the magic as Fawkes had taught him over the past two summers while flying over this castle. He asked, "Nexia, how old is this painting?"

"There are four different paintings and they are different ages, Mr Harry Potter."

She pointed at the floor and said, "This 'Happily Ever After' castle was painted in 1940 and 1941. It took three elves and a wizard a year to paint the castle and surrounding lands. It is many different paintings put together."

Then she pointed at the painting on the wall of the aging wizard and said, "That painting created by magic without an elf in 1945 and it was put inside this painting in 1948."

Finally, she pointed at the two portraits and said, "They were painted long ago, more than 100 years in the past and I can't see exactly when. But it be Albus Dumbledore at the peak of his power at about 21 years and the other be Gellert Grindelwald at same age and power."

"There's elf magic here, Mr Harry Potter, but also lots of wizard magic," Snot confirmed. "Somehow, Albus Dumbledore moved these three paintings into this one."

"Maybe he hid it in the Come and Go Room?" Nexia suggested.

"Well, I'm not going to ask him," Harry said.

"It's in our care now and I can't come back here again," Harry resolved. "Not as long as that Grindwall fellow is alive. What if he wakes up while I'm flying around?"

"What will you do with the painting?" asked Nexia with Fawkes listening closely.

"This is Fawkes home," Harry said. "I'll protect it for her until we figure out what to do about that Grindwall fellow and Dumbledore."

"How do we protect this painting, Mr Harry Potter?" asked Snot.

"I have an idea," Nexia said, her paint brush in her hand as she approached the wall with the portraits of young Albus and Gellert.

For the next two days, Nexia and Harry painted rune sequences on the walls that would notify him, Snot, and Nexia if either portrait awoke. Working throughout the night, Nexia added muggle locks to all the doors and windows, and helped Snot set a trap of the only doorway from the room into an adjoining lounge. The door to the balcony was locked from the outside and could only be opened by Harry Potter on the balcony. The collection of wands was broken and cast from the balcony to be lost in the forest below.

00**OO**00

Andy and Ted both noticed that Harry was distracted Christmas morning but they attributed it to his being a teenager. He was pleased with his gifts and he'd found several nice things for his relatives. Narcissa appreciated the portrait of Draco that Nexia created after sketching the boy's face from a few wizarding photos. It wasn't magical but he did smile pleasantly at his mother when she appeared.

The best present came from Dora and her husband announced that they would make Andromeda and Ted grandparents in late summer leading to another round of tears and smiles around the table.

00**OO**00

The pictures from a 'ball' for teenagers in the south of France were relegated to the inside pages of the Daily Prophet as everyone in Britain forgot that a group of students were out of the country – the Minister, his wife and several other parents travelled to Beauxbatons for the holiday to visit with their children.

After the new year, Amos Diggory told Ted that Dumbledore appeared distressed to learn that he'd not come to Beauxbaton to consult with the elder statesman on a matter of government but just to visit with his son.

"I think that Albus forgot that Cedric is my son!" Amos said. "And it took a moment for him to understand why I'd want to visit with him at Yule."

00**OO**00

The week after returning to Hogwarts, Harry found both Nundus piled up asleep in the female's den. They lay with the male's neck lying over the female. As the young wizard stared, his Nundu opened her green eyes and blinked a couple of times before moving around and burrowing her nose underneath her mate's neck. Harry grinned and when the male opened his eyes briefly, the boy-who-lived simply nodded and then went back to his studies.

At Mr Harry Potter's direction, Nexia set up an easel and drawing pads at the canvas where she captured the two cats sleeping and grooming each other. She sent copies of each sketch to Newt Scamander.

00**OO**00

SCENE News of the Second Task

The Daily Prophet announced the scandal and terrible news that rocked Beauxbatons following a disastrous second task. The headmistress of the school used three of her own students as the 'lost treasurers' that were hidden underneath the cold waters of a nearby mountain lake. All three students perished before the champions could rescue them; the waters of the lake were too murky meaning that Cedric, the Beauxbatons champion and the Durmstrang Institute, champion couldn't see anything. The Beauxbatons champions 'treasure' was her younger sister, an eight-year-old girl, and the headmistress of the school was escorted away in chains.

The headmasters for Hogwarts and Durmstrang Institute were warned not to leave the country before the conclusion of the trial, and a gloom descended upon the tournament that would linger through the end of the contest.

00**OO**00

In London, the birth of Antares Theodore Black was heralded by dancing elves and a special weekend visit for Harry. Uncle Ted collected Harry from the Deputy Headmistress's office after his last class on Friday and once they stepped into Grimmauld Place, Harry was introduced to the new nanny elves (two demanding elves that put Snot and Nexia to shame). Then he was charmed clean but still made to wash his hands with muggle soap. He noticed that Ted was subjected to the same procedure before they climbed the stairs to the new nursery adjoining Aunt Narcissa's bedchamber.

There Harry was instructed to sit in a rocking chair and a bundle of swaddling cloth was laid in his arm. One end was moved back and Harry met 'Teddy'.

"He's tiny," Harry whispered.

"Thank goodness," Narcissa said as she returned to her own comfortable chair. "But he is perfect!"

"Look at his hair," Harry told his aunts and uncle. "And his tiny fingers – he's got fingernails."

"Thank you for getting us the new nanny elves," Narcissa said. "I'd forgotten how often babies wake and need to be changed and fed."

"Snot made certain you'd have all the help you need," Harry said with a nod. "Teddy's going to be safe, loved, and well-fed."

Ted glanced at his wife and his sister-in-law for permission before he said, "Harry, we'd like you to be godfather for Teddy."

00**OO**00

In March, the Nundu drove the male from her den and settled down for five minutes before she ventured out to drink water, stretch and scratch at the surrounding trees. She lay in the sunshine, chased the male away when he approached with a meal for her, then ate the meal, and leaned against the canvas when Harry was near. Harry ignored the flashing tail of the male when he responded by leaning against canvas and talking to her.

Nexia documented everything on paper with charcoals and paint. Mr Scamander sent a letter full of questions and excitement, urging Harry to pay close attention as the female clearly included the boy-who-lived in her 'pride'.

The next morning when Harry rose from his bed and stumbled into the room, he found the male Nundu sleeping just outside the den like an exhausted guard. Inside the female purred with contentment as she nursed her first kitten, a small, wobbly black thing of legs, tail and head. The mother glanced toward Harry who sank to his knees with a few tears along with smiles. Nexia had captured the birth on canvas while Snot kept his distance.

00**OO**00

SCENE Exams

In mid-May, Winky and Dobby's daughter was born. Harry was so enthused by the news that when Dobby, Nexia, and Snot danced on the ceiling of his heir's suite to celebrate the birth of Dixie, he joined them. He danced on the floor at first but then ran up the side of the wall and began dancing around his elves on the ceiling.

Feeling a burst of wild magic, Deputy Headmistress McGonagall and Professors Burbage and Flitwick burst into his room but then stood still with shock – one wall of the suite was a large mural where a family of elephants stood at the edge of the canvas to watch the dancing, while a family of Nundus watched from a den; the mother and father watching their kitten standing up against the canvas and batting her tiny paws at the young wizard and three house elves dancing on the ceiling of the room.

"Feel that power?" Flitwick asked as Burbage was swept up in the power and she climbed the side of the wall to join the figures dancing on the ceiling. Harry spun his head of house around as the elves began leaps and flips of happiness.

"Can we move him into advanced studies next year?" Minerva asked.

"Albus will fight it tooth and nail," Flitwick said.

Minerva frowned and said, "I think I'll suggest that Dumbledore spend next year studying at Durmstrang Institute to get him out of the castle again."

00**OO**00

When she looked up from her desk and found one of her favourite Gryffindors at her door one afternoon in June, Charity Burbage smiled and motioned for Harry Potter to step inside.

"Professor, can I speak with you for a moment?"

"Of course, Harry, I'll always have a moment for the boy who took me dancing on the ceiling!"

Grinning, Harry had to say, "The elves dance when a baby is born to strengthen the baby's magic. They danced back at home when my aunt's little boy was born but I didn't see it."

"Now, what can I do for you this morning?"

"Exams start the day after tomorrow, and I'd like to take the fifth-year exams – the OWLS – for Charms, Transfiguration, Potions, Arithmancy, Muggle Studies, Care of Magical Animals, and Runes."

"You want to do what?"

"I'm prepared to take my OWLS this year. I want to sit with the fifth-year students when they start exams."

Charity sat back in her chair, thinking about the regulations and rules concerning the OWLs. She looked at Harry and he pulled a small book from a pocket and slid it across the desk to her.

"This is a ministry publication from back in the war – the 1940's – and it states that students can take their NEWTs and OWLs early."

"That was to help with the war effort," Charity argued as she skimmed over the section that Harry had book marked.

"And they never rescinded the regulation," he added.

"You only get two bites at the apple," the head of house reminded the boy-who-lived.

"I only have to pass three of them with Acceptables," Harry grinned. "I can do that with my eyes closed."

"But, don't you want higher grades? Another year of study would mean a higher grade. The OWLs follow you all your life."

Harry shook his head, "For once it pays to be the boy-who-lived. No one will care what my score on OWLs are once I'm an adult."

"Are your aunt and uncle aware of this plan?"

Harry shook his head. "No, but they won't interfere."

"It's not interfering when they're your guardians, Mr Potter," Charity said, rising from her chair and heading toward the floo. After a hasty conversation with Ted Tonks, the solicitor sent for his wife and they quickly assembled in Professor Burbage's office.

After she explained the situation to them and they shared a look, Ted and Andy approached Harry who carefully laid out his reasoning for taking the OWLs early with the added argument that was the true heart of the matter.

"I want to be gone from here before Dumblesquat comes back," Harry said. "It's been great without him here this year! If I come back for a fifth year, he'll screw something up to try and pressure me to tell him secrets or perform a life-altering challenge!"

"Harry's right about that," Ted said.

Andy asked, "What are you going to do next year? Study with tutors?"

With a wide grin on his face, Harry replied, "The muggles have a tradition of a gap year between finishing school and starting university. I want to travel around the world, see other cities and magical places. Study some magical animals and decide what I want to study."

"And you'll study for your NEWTs?" asked Charity.

And that's how it came to be that Harry Potter took his OWLs a year early. It was an exhausting couple of weeks, but Harry was confident that he passed enough of the examinations for his plans. (The only exam he found difficult was the Potions examination; Severus wasn't a very good teacher).

00**OO**00

There were no Daily Prophet headlines about Harry's examinations; the paper's star reporters and photographers were in far-off south of France where the Tri-Wizard Tournament was about to conclude with the third task. Cedric Diggory was ahead in the points with Victor Krum in second place. The Beauxbatons champion, Fleur Delacour mourned her lost sister but knew she had to participate.

Harry finished his last OWL the day of the Third Task and after a good supper and some celebration with students from all the houses in the Great Hall, went to his suite to talk with Snot, Nexia, Dobby and Winky, while he played with Dixie and watched Kitten settling down for the night with her mother.

Snot provided a hot chocolate and then put Harry to bed.

00**OO**00

SCENE News of the Third Task

In the morning, the Daily Prophet was late, not arriving until lunch with a larger than normal number of post owls descending on the school with the newspaper.

**Diggory Wins Tri-Wizard Tournament!**

**Beauxbatons Contestant Goes Insane! **

00**OO**00

In the detailed story with multiple photographs, Fleur held her grief in check until the awards ceremony where Headmaster Dumbledore began a lecture on forgiveness that lost the crowd's attention until he suggested that Delacour forgive Madam Maxime and call off the trial.

The Beauxbatons champion attacked Dumbledore with fire balls, claws, and a sharp beak after fully transforming into her Veela form.

The medical staff at Sacre Coeur Hospital (Sacred Heart) in Paris announced that they had saved Dumbledore's life but he'd be hospitalized for at least a week, pushing back the date for the beginning of the trial for Madam Maxime.

Minister Amos Diggory attended the third task along with the French minister for magic. He apologized profusely for Dumbledore's poorly chosen words, endorsed the French response to the incident, praised the medical staff in Paris, and then announced that the Hogwarts Express would leave Beauxbatons on schedule and return the students to their families in London on 23 June. He spoke at length about Dumbledore's obligation to remain in France until the completion of the trial.

00**OO**00

SCENE End of Fourth Year

Harry was ready to go 'home' – a concept that meant a combination of rooms at Grimmauld Place and Greentree Lane and also included people who would be glad to see him.

With the Express still in France, the students would all use the floo network once again to return to their homes or to the Leaky Cauldron to be picked up by parents.

Standing at the centre of the staff table, McGonagall thanked them all for a productive school year, wished them well over the summer, and reminded them to make certain the seventh-year students knew to return on 29 June for their graduation ceremony. (They would be taking their NEWTs at the ministry in July – even Cedric would be taking the NEWTs).

00**OO**00

Dinner that first night was a wonderful affair with Narcissa bringing Teddy to the table to be passed around to everyone for a time.

"He's growing so fast!" Harry said several times as his cousin now laughed, gurgled, spit up, and then laughed some more. Dora and Andrew were there and Harry thought his cousin might explode at any minute. The elves paid close attention to Miss Dora as they affectionately called her.

"So, Harry, I hear you're planning to turn everyone upside down and not go back to Hogwarts," Narcissa said once the nanny elves moved Teddy to the nursery for a bath and then quiet time before his mother appeared to put him to bed.

"That's my plan," Harry replied.

Dora frowned and Andrew sat back; he had no wish to be in his pregnant wife's line of fire.

"How can you do that Harry?" she asked politely but insistently, her hand rubbing her extended belly.

"When I have passed three of my classes with an 'acceptable or better', the Ministry for Magic recognizes me as an adult. Most people don't use that to their advantage – most of the time after fifth year is when families draw up betrothal agreements but kids stay in place with tehri family."

"And you want to live alone at Green… place?" asked Andrew, not remembering the street name in Surrey.

"Greentree Lane," Dora corrected her husband and he grinned, lifted her hand to kiss, and then sat back once more.

"No, I'm going to take my gap year… I'm going to travel around the world," Harry said.

00**OO**00

Table of Contents Contents

The Magical Portrait Charm 1

Chapter 4: Fourth Year 1

SCENE Greentree Lane 1

SCENE Grimmauld Place 2

SCENE Narcissa Black 6

SCENE Bellatrix Lestrange 11

SCENE Neville Longbottom 13

SCENE Secret Room at Malfoy Manor 19

SCENE Nexia's Talent 21

SCENE Painting of Two Ladies 23

SCENE Help from Remus 24

SCENE Remus Plots 26

SCENE Death of Dogfather 27

SCENE Uncovering Lupin's Plot 28

SCENE Barty Crouch Stumbles 35

SCENE The Future of Remus Lupin 38

SCENE Remus Attempts to Escape 39

SCENE Plans for the End of Dark Lord Whatshisname 45

SCENE Invitation to End of Tom Riddle 51

SCENE 25 August 1994 54

SCENE 27 August 1994 55

SCENE 29 August 1994 71

SCENE 31 August 1994 75

SCENE Hogwarts Express 81

SCENE Summoned to Headmaster's office 87

SCENE Chance to Attend Tri-Wizard Tournament 95

SCENE News from France in Daily Prophet 99

SCENE News of the First Task 103

SCENE Christmas Ball in France 107

SCENE News of the Second Task 117

SCENE Exams 120

SCENE News of the Third Task 124

SCENE End of Fourth Year 125

Table of Contents 127


	5. Chapter 5

The Magical Portrait Charm

This Harry Potter story was written for fun. All rights belong to the wonderful lady (JK Rowling) who gave the world Harry Potter to read and enjoy.

Story Line: With his OWLs completed a year early, Harry escapes from Britain and begins his 'gap year' with an excursion in Europe. But as the fall term passes at Hogwarts, Albus Dumbledore feels compelled to force Harry return. The headmaster's plans and actions threaten Harry's growing family and he returns to settles matters with Dumbledore once and for all.

One more time, the elf's name is intentional.

Chapter 5: Summer and Fall 1995

)**&&**(

SCENE Start of Gap Year

The Daily Prophet announced the triumphant return of Cedric Diggory and the other Hogwarts students. Their graduation at Hogwarts on 29 June was well attended by the Ministry's staff, Wizengamot members, and the press. Only two or three younger students attended the graduation because their older sibling was among the graduates.

The next day, the Daily Prophet returned to the scandalous trial in Paris for (former) Headmistress Maxime from Beauxbatons. Headmaster Albus Dumbledore spent two full days in the witness chair being questioned about his association with the tournament, his participation in designing the tasks and selecting the hostages who died, and the unfortunate incident where he tormented the grief-stricken Fleur Delacour into a Veela transformation and attack upon his person.

In the end, the French court found Madam Maxime guilty of negligent homicide and sentenced her to fifty years in prison as soon as one could be built that would hold her. The distraught woman was found dead the next morning in her family home outside of Tours.

00**OO**00

On 31 July 1995, Harry received his grades during breakfast at Greentree Lane. He carried the paper with him when he went through the flames to Grimmauld Place for a family birthday party that evening, slipping the paper to Andromeda who read the report before handing it to her husband and grabbing Harry for hugs and kisses. Ted burst out in laughter, handing the paper to Narcissa before hugging Harry and shaking his hand.

"What did he get?" Dora demanded to know before she was handed the paper from the Ministry.

"He got Outstanding in everything except Potions," Andy reported to her daughter. "But he did get an Exceeds Expectations there so Snape must acknowledge Harry's abilities."

"Wow, Harry," Andrew exclaimed. "These would be great scores for a fifth-year kid and you're just fifteen today!"

00**OO**00

Once dinner was eaten, the family gave Harry presents including family photos of him with Teddy, each of the adults and group photos as well. There was a suspiciously large trunk presented to Harry with a book from Newt Scamander on setting up animal habitats.

"You'll be able to take the paintings of the Nundus with you in this trunk's living quarters," Andy told him. "Snot made certain there was a suitable wall for the mural of Africa."

"Thank you! Thank you!" Harry said, hugging and kissing everyone.

"Now, young man, there are a few rules for traipsing all over the world by yourself…" Ted began.

But Snot popped into the room, bowed, and said, "Elves not let Mr Harry Potter out of our sight! He will follow all Mr Theodore Tonks's rules or be brought home in his trunk!"

"Excellent!" Ted replied.

Narcissa said, "Have you got enough money? Can you get to a Gringotts everywhere in the world?"

"Money's not an issue," Harry said. "Snot's got that covered."

"Harry… how is it you've never asked us for any money?" Andy asked.

"He must have a bottomless bag of gold!" teased Andrew while Harry pretended not to hear his cousin's husband and his relatives suddenly remembered the appearance of gold coins and nuggets from time to time. Snot whispered into Harry's ear before disappearing.

"Coward!" Harry hissed but then turned to his family and said, "It's Potter family magic."

"James and Fleamont were always frugal," Andy replied as if to support Harry and get him to share more information.

"Uh, it's new family magic and the goblins approve," Harry said to end the questions.

00**OO**00

In preparation to beginning his gap year, Harry and Snot went to Gringotts to get a Gringotts Credit Card. This card would be accepted by every magical and muggle business in the world. The magic in the card tied it to the nearest Gringotts bank so the card would work in Japan, Australia, Africa, Asia and Europe as well as the Americas. The card would act as a debit card as long as Harry's trust vault had sufficient funds. The goblin declined to even discuss the interest and payment schedule for charges that weren't immediately paid.

"You've got enough money in that trust account to pay for every magical child in Britain to go to Hogwarts for all seven years," the goblin said. "If you spend it all, I'll come find you and get more gold from you… or your elf."

00**OO**00

On 2 August, the same day that Albus Dumbledore finally returned to Magical Britain via a port key after nine months abroad, Harry James Potter left London using British Rail to travel to Paris via the Chunnel.

Once the train was in France, Harry revealed a change in their plans.

"I want to wait to explore the museums in Paris another time. The first thing we're going to do is find the real Nuremgard and see if that Grindwall fellow is really a prisoner there."

"Grindelwald," Snot corrected his wizard. "His name was… is.. was Gellert Grindelwald."

"Mr Harry Potter, why do you want to find Grindelwald?" asked Nexia.

Shifting around in his seat a little, Harry explained, "The story we pieced together about the headmaster and that first dark lord made me uncomfortable. The portraits in the Magical Portrait made me think they're planning to come back after they die!"

Snot nodded, "The Dark Lord Whatshisname did want to come back after dying. An obsession with death could be a characteristic of all the Dark Lords – Grindelwald, Riddle, and Dumbledore."

Nexia frowned and asked, "Mr Harry Potter, do you think that old Whiskers knows we've been inside his Happily Ever After painting?"

"No," Harry said. "He'd've demanded I hand over the painting if he knew I flew over the castle like I used to."

00**OO**00

Less than two hours after arriving in the French capital, Harry and his 'grandparents' were on another train that was headed to Munich, Germany.

Once they arrived in Munich, they spent the night in a nice hotel room and poured over maps of the Austrian Alps, looking for the places where Nuremgard Castle could be hidden. In the morning, 'Grandfather' arranged for a rental car and they drove to Austria.

In the Austrian city of Dornbirn, just across the border from Germany, they found a restaurant for lunch, and purchased several more detailed maps of the Austrian Alps. That afternoon, Harry, Nexia (Grandmother) and Snot (Grandfather), studied the new maps to locate the hidden location of Nuremgard. They checked into another hotel to spend the night.

Early the next morning, Snot and Nexia once again glamoured themselves as an elderly couple traveling with their teenage grandson and exploring of the natural beauty of the Alps. They left the hotel in Dornbirn and drove along a highway into the mountains. It took another complete day with a night spent in Feldkinch and a survey by broomstick underneath the Potter invisibility cloak, but Harry finally found the hidden location of Nuremgard in a mountain glade where Austria, Switzerland and Liechtenstein (a tiny country) all met.

With Dobby, Winky, and Dixie hiding the car under notice-me-not charms, Harry, Snot and Nexia approached the real castle that Harry flew over many times in the magical painting. There were no human guardians, only a few, very old elves who shrugged when asked if they could explore inside.

Snot used translation charms to speak to the elves who only spoke some form of German, but he reported that they'd been here since the 1940s; they cleaned and repaired any decay to the castle and fed one prisoner twice a day with nutritious foods and drink.

"Mr Harry Potter, I asked if we could see and speak with this prisoner, and the elves agreed so long as we swear on our magic not to release him," Snot reported back to Harry and Nexia.

Nexia led the way inside the castle and as they climbed the endless staircases up to the battlements and then beyond to the highest tower, Harry commented on how strong muggles had to be if they ran up and down these staircases every day.

"And Hogwarts keeps children running up and down staircases all day every day to wear them out," Snot said, revealing a secret. "All wizards and witches get lots of exercise running between classes and climbing stairs so they tired and sleep at night."

At the top of the castle, in the same room as in the painting, Harry and the elves found the sealed door to the cell where Gellert Grindelwald spent his endless days. The prisoner stared at the boy's face in the barred window of the door for a long minute before he rose from his seat and approached with an outstretched hand.

"Wer bist du? Bist du gekommen, um mich freizulassen?" he asked, his voice rough from not being used. (Who are you? Are you come to release me?)

"Who are you?" Harry asked in English.

"English?" the man asked. "Have the British invaded Germany again?"

Thinking quickly, Harry replied, "I'm a tourist and saw this castle. It took all day to walk up here!"

"My castle! This is my castle! Geh raus! Geh raus!" (Get out! Get out!)

"If this is your castle, tell me your name," insisted Harry.

"Has the world forgotten me already? I'm the greatest wizard that's ever lived! I'm Gellert Grindelwald!"

The wizard stared at Harry for a moment and then began yelling, "Get out! Geh raus! Geh raus!"

Turning and running back to the stairs, Harry only stopped when he was three floors below the crazy wizard who still yelled in his cell. Nexia and Snot popped into the room where Harry had stopped and with a single pop they were back at the gate to the castle.

"The elves were not disturbed by his ranting," Snot informed Harry. "They say that some weeks he says nothing but other weeks he screams and shouts, curses someone named Albus to hell, and cries about a lost empire."

Nexia's only comment was that the castle in the painting was prettier than the real thing.

"Of course, the painting is prettier," Snot said. "In 'Happily Ever After', everything is perfect."

00**OO**00

Back in the car with the elves, they drove to a tourist area and bought a nice lunch before sitting on a stone wall in the summer sun to think and plan.

"Who would do something about Grindelwald if they knew?" Harry asked.

Snot thought about the question carefully and considered several different answers before he explained, "Wizards will have many different reactions to hearing the that Gellert Grindelwald is alive. He started the Wizard War that grew into the muggle war that destroyed much of Europe and killed millions of wizards and muggles. Germany's magical population has never recovered and probably never will."

"There'd be yelling and lots of excitement," Nexia said.

Dobby finally spoke up and said, "Mr Harry Potter should find a person who would know who to tell but still keep it secret for now. If Harry Potter tells this news to world today, he will be in meetings and meetings and meetings for weeks. Aunt Andys and Uncle Teds lock him in bedroom at night and they sleep in chair outside door to protect him."

Harry glanced at Snot who shrugged and admitted, "Dobby be… Dobby is correct. And your elves would walk around with meat cleavers in their hands all the time."

Dobby nodded and from an impossibly small pocket pulled out the huge cleaver he'd once used to decapitate the crazy Black family elf at Grimmauld Place.

00**OO**00

They began the drive back to Munich that afternoon and drove into the night to reach the city's airport where they disposed of the car and checked into a hotel. Snot considered sending Harry by air but decided that the five-hour trip by train would provide a quiet time for the 'family' to relax while seeing the Alps and countryside.

"I like the idea of riding on the train," Harry said to endorse Snot's plan. "The train from London to Paris was great!"

In Zurich the next afternoon, after Harry and his 'Grandmother' were resting in yet another hotel room, Snot went to explore the magical district and collect more maps. He found the offices for the ICW and recognized the name of a wizard working there – Percival Weatherby.

Harry Potter arrived at the ICW offices at 3:00PM and took the last 'tour' of the day with an elderly couple from England. By happenstance, he bumped into Weatherby and after apologizing, introduced himself and renewed the acquaintance.

"Potter, what are you doing in Switzerland?" Percy asked.

"I'm on vacation," Harry replied. Motioning toward the elderly couple, he said, "I've got chaperones."

Percy smirked and said, "Those glamours fool muggles but not observant wizards."

He turned to the 'grandparents' and asked, "Are you keeping a close eye on Potter? Keeping him out of trouble?"

Snot dropped back into elven slip/slap language to confirm that they did keep 'Mr Harry Potters' under control.

Percy and Harry discussed the Tri-Wizard Tournament just briefly before Harry turned the conversation to history in this area of Europe.

"And that wizard – Grindelsmall – didn't he live near here?"

"Gellert Grindelwald lived along the border between Austria and Switzerland but no one is completely certain where. When Dumbledore killed him in 1945, that ended the wizarding war and everyone just wanted to forget everything about the deaths and destruction that ruined all of Europe."

"So, was Grindelwald worse than Whatshisname?"

Percy paused and turned his full attention to Harry before answering, "Tom Riddle and his Deatheaters did to Magical Britain what Gellert Grindelwald and his followers did to Germany, Austria, Poland, Russia, France, the Netherlands…"

"All those countries?" asked Harry.

"And there was a muggle war going on too so there wasn't anywhere to hide," Percy said.

"Wow. Thanks for telling me Percy."

"So where are you off to next?"

"Paris," the grandfather figure replied. "Mr Potter will spend the rest of the month of August studying painting and architecture in Paris."

"You're lucky," Percy said. "I understand that Paris is beautiful at any time of year."

The two British wizards parted company just outside the ICW headquarters as Harry and his 'grandparents' returned to their hotel. Snot and the elves had everything backed and popped Harry out of the hotel in under five minutes.

"Why did we move hotels?" Harry asked as they checked into another hotel using gold rather than the credit card.

"To hide and not leave a trail with the credit card," Snot said. He was gone for several hours but when he returned, he had muggle credit cards, Swiss paper money, and tickets for a train leaving in the middle of the night for Italy.

"Why would the ICW look for me?" Harry asked.

After two weeks travelling from northern Italy to Naples in the south, Snot believed they had escaped the notice of anyone 'watching'. Harry had explored Roman ruins, wandered through museums with magical and mundane paintings with Nexia explaining the significance of different techniques used to create magic and images on the canvas.

On 31 August, Harry and his elves used port keys to jump from Naples, Italy to Athens, Greece and then immediately to the magical district in Damascus, Syria. He remained off all government sensors.

00**OO**00

On 1 September 1995, when the staff and students gathered in the Great Hall for the sorting ceremony, Albus Dumbledore was disturbed because he couldn't find Harry Potter anywhere among the students. Even though the Dark Lord Voldemort was gone, Albus Dumbledore felt there was something more for Harry Potter to complete at Hogwarts.

He'd been warned to stay away from Potter by the boy's guardians in the middle of August when he made inquiries about the classes the boy-who-lived planned to take that year. Tonight, Dumbledore was given the bad news – Harry Potter had taken his OWLs last spring and scored very well.

Professor Burbage had worse news when she handed a letter to Deputy Headmistress McGonagall; with the consent of his guardians, Harry Potter had withdrawn from Hogwarts to pursue private study with tutors that matched his interest in magical creatures and magical painting.

00**OO**00

While Dumbledore seethed and plotted at Hogwarts that night, Harry and his elves visited the famous Library at Alexandria (Egypt) and planned their trip into Kenya to visit the real African plains.

00**OO**00

Minerva McGonagall and Charity Burbage attempted more than once that month to pin Dumbledore down on why the headmaster thought it was important for Harry Potter to continue at Hogwarts. Without fully understanding why he wanted Potter back at the school, Dumbledore finally admitted that there was a prophecy concerning Potter and the Dark Lord Voldemort.

"You mean Tom Riddle, correct?" asked Charity.

"Everyone knows him as Voldemort," Albus corrected the head of Gryffindor who was proving to be as difficult to control as McGonagall.

"Everyone calls him Lord Whatshisname now," Minerva said to correct the headmaster. "Ever since Mr Potter began calling him that… ever since Mr Potter vanquished him last August; remember?"

"He might not remember the 'event', Professor McGonagall," Charity said. "Headmaster Dumbledore chose not to attend the event where Mr Potter used the power Lord Whatshisname knew not to destroy all the soul jars."

"So, you know the prophecy?" asked Dumbledore.

McGonagall was around Dumbledore's desk in a second, with her wand pressed against his neck, "So you knew more than you ever let on! Tell us now or I'll send you on your way to that next great adventure you're so smug about!"

00**OO**00

With a visit by Unspeakables bearing a burnt-out prophecy orb and a reasonable evaluation of Mr Potter's actions last summer, the Unspeakables and the Hogwarts staff agreed that Harry Potter had fulfilled the requirements of the prophecy.

"But the boy is possessed by the spirit of the Dark Lord!" Dumbledore argued.

"No, he removed that fragment from his scar first – that's how he learned about soul jars in the first place," Minerva argued.

"But how do you know he got them all?"

"There were seven fragments – Harry destroyed six of them. The seventh was the wraith left from that night at Godric's Hollow," Unspeakable (#23) reported. "It faded away after the last soul jar was destroyed and Gringotts certified that Tom Marvolo Riddle was truly dead."

"But… Voldemort placed powerful magic on each of those soul containers… horcruxes… Simply stabbing a painting can't be enough to kill them!"

"I tell you what headmaster, if the Department of Mysteries ever figures out how Mr Potter was able to get things into magical paintings, we'll let you step inside and stab the canvas. Then we can tell if a magical being can die that way!" Unspeakable #23 shouted as he left the meeting.

00**OO**00

Minerva frowned each time she saw Albus Dumbledore in the next week. _'He's plotting something. I know it… but I don't know what!'_

Professor Burbage made her way to Hogsmeade with the students on their first Hogsmeade Saturday and while there stepped inside the postal service office to mail several letters to Harry's relatives. She didn't trust the owls at Hogwarts and hoped that by sending letters to all of these people, at least one would get through.

00**OO**00

Andrew Prewitt had the misfortune of meeting his British cousins the Weasleys in late September. He had been to the Ministry to have lunch with Ted and discuss the situation at home; Narcissa and Andromeda hoovered over the past due Nymphadora who held Teddy and cried about being fat and ugly. Teddy loved the attention of his mum and his aunts but the nanny elves were pissed that they never got to hold the growing baby and the other one hadn't appeared yet.

On his way out of the cafeteria, Arthur Weasley ran into Andrew and knocked him to the floor. Instantly Molly Weasley verbally assaulted the stranger while Arthur attempted to apologise.

"We were just on our way for some coffee while… uh…"

"No harm, no foul," Andrew said. Offering his hand, the young wizard said, "I'm Andrew Prewitt."

"Prewitt? There aren't any Prewitt's left in Britain!" Molly screeched. "My brothers were the last Prewitts! Who are you really?"

Ted came out the door (along with a dozen other people) to investigate the loud voice and hurried to his son-in-law's rescue.

"My family is from outside Dublin," Andrew said. "But we've been Prewitts for centuries."

"No doubt they were run out of England!" Molly said. "You should stop using my family name!"

Ted grinned and said, "Mrs Weasley, my son-in-law would have to take the name Andrew Black then because he married into the Black family. How would you like that; being related to the Blacks so closely?"

00**OO**00

Andrew made it home to Grimmauld Place without any problems though several people did urge him to stay away from Molly Weasley. (Her youngest son was continually getting into problems and no one expected him to pass a single OWL next year.)

At the door, he found a pile of mail and sorted through it to find a letter addressed to him from Harry's former head of house. He opened the letter and read it quickly, and hurried upstairs to hand it to his mother-in-law just as Nymphadora began a labour contraction. It was another day before Andy read the letter closely while her granddaughter was nursing and Ted escorted the healers to the floo.

After reading the letter, Andy went to find Ted who was drinking muggle whiskey with Andrew in the study.

00**OO**00

Harry and his elves were watching a herd of wildebeest migrating north on the plains when a tired owl found them with an urgent message from home.

00**OO**00

SCENE Dumbledore Attempts to Find Harry

It was late November before Dumbledore moved against the Tonks family in his attempt to find Harry Potter and force him back to Hogwarts. The minister was useless to the headmaster's plans, and worse, took advantage of Dumbledore's attempts to force the Wizengamot to legislate that Harry Potter must attend Hogwarts until he was seventeen; the motion backfired when Diggory convinced the members to 'retire' Dumbledore from his position as Chief Warlock.

"Since you returned from France, you've done nothing but tell everyone that Harry Potter is dangerous, useless and a disappointment. No one but you believes this Albus Dumbledore! You need to be evaluated by the healers in the Janus Thickery ward at St Mungo's!" declared Minister Diggory.

There were no allies left in the Wizengamot that day – Augusta Longbottom dropped dead after a heated argument with her grandson at the end of July, and Amelia Bones lost the appeal to support the betrothal for her niece with Heir Longbottom after the boy refused to consummate the relationship citing the girl's being a 'bitch'.

00**OO**00

Desperate to return Harry Potter to Hogwarts (for some unknown reason), Dumbledore, Shacklebolt, and Vance appeared outside No.12 Grimmauld Place on a cold November morning and placed charms to drain the wards around the house. Without knowing the location of the warding stones, the process would take weeks to complete but with the draining charms in place, wizards could not use apparition, floo travel, or port keys from the house.

Dumbledore knew from the Daily Prophet that there were two small children in the house as well as all of Harry's magical relatives. They would be trapped now and this situation would force Harry to return to Hogwarts.

'_The boy's probably in there as well,'_ Dumbledore decided._ 'This can all be settled before supper tonight.' _

However, he was disappointed when Ted and Andromeda Tonks and some unknown wizard charged out of the house and began duelling with Dumbledore and his minions on the street.

Vance was incapacitated within seconds but Shacklebolt lasted longer against Ted Tonks. The unknown wizard and Andromeda attacked Dumbledore who used the Elder Wand effectively, throwing the wizard into the trees of a small park and crushing Andromeda's wand arm. Ted decapitated Shacklebolt and then cast a strong spell at Dumbledore that threw the old wizard fifty feet into the air. The headmaster landed on top of a moving lorry with a loud bang. That the lorry was two blocks away from Grimmauld Place disoriented the headmaster enough that he was in Central London before regaining use of his magic.

Aurors appeared in the street and repaired damage to the houses, obliviated terrified muggles, and transported the injured Tonks and Prewitt to St. Mungo's Hospital. The Daily Prophet sent reporters and photographers to the scene and to the hospital. Minister Diggory yelled at Director Bones but she declined to issue an arrest warrant for Dumbledore.

"We must interview the combatants before anyone can be arrested," Amelia Bones said, quoting the Auror manuals.

When Dumbledore appeared in the infirmary at Hogwarts, Poppy Pomphrey was compelled to follow the headmaster's instructions but she did manage to notify Minerva of his return and the condition he was in before she began treatment for a shattered spine and legs. With the Elder Wand still in his hand, Dumbledore closed the castle to all mail and newspapers, as well as travel by floo, broomstick, apparition or port key.

00**OO**00

Harry and his elves were in Mombasa, Kenya when he learned from newspapers that Dumbledore and his minions attacked Grimmauld Place, injuring his 'aunt and uncle' as well as Andrew. The attack pinpointed the location of the Black family home in London and exposed two small children to the dangers of future attacks.

With Winky, Dixie, and Dobby packing his clothes and paints, Harry took Nexia and Snot to the nearest apparition point to obtain a port key to take him back to London. A cool-headed bureaucrat talked Harry (and Snot) into returning to Britain through a series of port keys – first to Alexandria, Egypt, then to Athens, Greece, and Paris, France before returning to Britain.

The boy-who-lived left Kenya within the hour and that evening, arrived in Paris. No one in the French ministry was looking for Harry Potter so he walked out of the Magical district quickly. Once in the city, he made his way to the nearest subway station and then to the train station where he bought a round-trip ticket to the Kings Cross station in London. He boarded train to London travelling via the Chunnel and planned to catch everyone by surprise.

00**OO**00

"Are they still out there?" Nymphadora asked her aunt who was peering out of the windows on the front of No.12 Grimmauld Place. Each woman held a baby; Teddy was six months old, and Elizabeth Andromeda Prewitt was just a few days old.

"Yes, damn them to hell!" Narcissa said cursing the Aurors. "They're supposed to protect us but they refuse to stop the drains on the wards and won't let Andy, Ted, and Andrew return from St. Mungo's."

"It's Bones," Dora said. "She blames Dad for letting Neville Longbottom break that betrothal."

Narcissa sighed, "It was the proper thing to do; the girl's a nightmare. And Longbottom immediately approached the Abbots about putting a new betrothal in place with their daughter so that just reinforces the bad reputation for the Bones heiress."

"What are we going to do? Let the Aurors into the house? Will they arrest us?" asked Dora, her concern for her husband and her new born leaving her unsure what to do.

"Can I be of assistance?" asked Harry as he appeared in the magical painting of a distant Black ancestor that hung along the staircase where Wahlberg's infamous painting once hung.

"Harry, is that really you?" asked Narcissa as Dora began to cry in combination of relief and fear.

"I heard there was trouble with Dumblesquat so I interrupted my travels to package him for disposal!" Harry explained.

Noticing the bundle in Dora's arms he said, "The baby came! Everything okay? What's his name?"

"Everything is fine with the baby and 'her' name is Elizabeth," Dora said with the first smile that entire day.

"Get an elf to lower this painting to the floor," Harry said. Once the painting was on the floor, Harry stepped out into the front room at Grimmauld Place and turned around to thank Antares Black for sharing his portrait frame for a few moments.

"Come back any time, young man!" the portrait said as it was levitated back to the wall.

Harry hugged Dora and cried over Elizabeth, hugged Narcissa and giggled at the faces that Teddy made.

"Any news from the hospital?"

"They're all fine and chomping at the bit to come home but Director Bones claims they're being investigated for the death of Kingsley Shacklebolt, the injuries to Emmaline Vance, and the disappearance of Albus Dumbledore."

"Disappearance? Has anyone bothered to look at Hogwarts?"

"She wants to cause us as much trouble as possible," Dora said and looked at her aunt.

"Bones is forgetting something very important; something that may prove fatal," Narcissa said.

"What's that?" harry asked.

"The Black family always buries our enemies!"

"Perhaps she'll take a lesson from what I'm going to do to Albus Dumbledore," Harry told his aunt.

"Now, let's get you out of Grimmauld Place," Harry said as he pulled a shrunken painting from a pocket and restored it to full size where Snot and Dobby waited in the canvas to escort part of Harry's family to safety.

"Where are we going?" asked Narcissa as they prepared to leave with elves, baskets of baby supplies, formula, and enough clothes to dress ten witches and twenty infants. Harry was extremely grateful for powerful, fast elves when they were ready to leave in just five minutes.

"The elves will take you to a large canvas in a Potter home in Wales that no one can find except for me and my elves. Then they'll let you step out into the real world again."

"Are you sure?"

"No one is going to hurt Teddy or Elizabeth!" Harry swore.

Once Narcissa, Tonks and the babies were safe at the Potter house in Wales, Harry and Snot set traps on every doorway in the entry hall at Grimmauld Place – the kitchen doorway would throw the intruder into the classroom painting, the lounge doorway would take the intruder to the Roman gardens, the library doorway would take the intruder to the painting of the Black family library where wards waited patiently for anyone not in the Black family. Nexia giggled but wouldn't explain what she'd prepared in the painting.

00**OO**00

After sending his Patronus to the editor of the Daily Prophet with a message of his location and immediately plans that promised a front-page worthy photo and story, Harry Potter waited ten minutes and then opened the front door to No.12 Grimmauld Place. He found himself at wand point from six Aurors.

"You're under arrest Potter!" declared one Auror.

"For what?!" demanded Harry. "Tell me! Aurors can't arrest someone just because they don't like 'em!"

"Never mind! Just shut up! You're under arrest and coming to the ministry! The Director wants to talk to you!"

The photographer for the Daily Prophet got a whole series of photos of the boy-who-lived being man-handled by three Aurors while three others frowned. Potter continually asked the Aurors to specify the charges but there wasn't any response except to shake the boy and side-apparate away with him.

In a holding cell, Harry spent several hours contemplating how Kitten would throttle Amelia Bones if she ever visited the magical 'African Plain'. He put that 'memory' at the front of his brain when the door to his cell opened and the Director stepped inside.

Without thinking Amelia Bones did scan the 'prisoner's surface thoughts and immediately took a step back as a Nundu's scream filled her mind, followed by the flash of dagger sharp teeth tearing out her throat.

Director Bones had to leave the cell and sit down for a moment as another Auror stepped to the door – Potter's surface thoughts were of a little black kitten playing with some motes of dust in a sunbeam.

Before Director Bones was able to rise again, the door to the cell block was thrown open and Minister Amos Diggory charged inside as Aurors fell back, and Bones grimaced.

"What charges have you filed against Mr Potter?" Diggory asked in a very low and angry voice.

"I haven't questioned him yet," Bones replied. "But I can hold him for twenty-four hours."

"What suspicious activity has he participated in to make you arrest him and bring him into the ministry?"

"He was at Grimmauld Place…"

"That's his residence! Is that suspicious in your befuddled and narrow mind?"

Bones said nothing and Diggory said, "Get him out here now and ask him your questions. There's a special edition of the Daily Prophet hitting the streets in the next few minutes that's covering this Dumbledore mess that you've made into a ministry mess!"

"Do it now or I'll have you up before the Wizengamot tonight for false arrest of a national hero, false imprisonment… were you going to send him to Azkaban without a trial like your predecessor did to his godfather?"

"Bring him out," Bones told the Auror who threw open the cell door and escorted Harry into the general area around the cells.

"Why were you at Grimmauld Place?" Bones asked.

Harry replied, "I was looking for Aunt Andromeda and Uncle Theodore Tonks. I heard they were injured defending their home from an attack by three wizards."

"Your aunt, uncle, and cousin are at St. Mungo's," Diggory told the boy who smiled and nodded his head.

"Can I ask why my aunt and cousin were basically held hostage in their home by the DMLE for the last two days? And why your Aurors didn't disable the draining charms that are corrupting the wards that protect the house?"

"What?" Diggory asked.

Harry explained, "The DMLE didn't see fit to disarm the charms Dumbledore and his two minions started outside the house. My aunt and my cousin were trapped inside the house with two infants and two nanny elves while six Aurors prevented them from coming outside…"

"My Aurors never stopped them from coming outside," Bones argued. "They weren't under suspicion."

"Liar!" Harry said. "I stepped out the front door and was 'arrested'. What would you have done to my aunt or cousin? What about their babies?"

"The MCW would…"

"Stop!" Diggory shouted. "Director Bones, you will send every Auror you have available to Grimmauld Place and you will order them to dismantle these drains. You will release Mr Potter and call off the guards at St. Mungo's in the next five minutes or I'll fire you tonight!"

00**OO**00

SCENE News Release and Revelations

Released from St. Mungo's Hospital, Ted, Andy, and Andrew came to the ministry where Harry was meeting with Minister Diggory. There was a happy reunion where Harry guaranteed that Narcissa, Teddy, Dora, and Elizabeth were safe with 'strong guards and protections'.

Turning toward the Minister, Ted said, "Albus Dumbledore is obsessed with my nephew. We're concerned this incident will be repeated again and again."

"Until the governors remove Dumbledore from Hogwarts, he's safe behind those wards," Diggory explained.

"So, if the Board of Governors vote him out of his place as headmaster, Hogwarts will throw him out of the castle?"

Amos shook his head and explained, "The wards won't 'throw' him out but the new headmaster or headmistress can expel him."

"But how can we get the Governors to vote him out of office? He's got blackmail on most of them!" declared Andromeda.

Harry spoke up, "What about a scandal that'll bring the whole of Europe down on him? Something that the ICW will force Magical Britain to deal with?"

"If such a thing existed…"

"It does," said Harry. "Albus Dumbledore didn't kill Gellert Grindelwald at the end of the Wizards War. Grindelwald is still alive and imprisoned in Nuremgard Castle."

"What? How do you know this?"

"I've been there – just earlier this fall. I was intrigued by the story of Grindelwald, Dumbledore and the end of the war. My interest started a couple years ago when I found a painting of Nuremgard Castle."

"And you found Nuremgard Castle when no one else has been able to since the war ended?" Bones asked sarcastically.

"I had the painting that gave me lots of clues about the mountain peaks around the castle."

"And Grindelwald is still alive?" Diggory asked after silencing Bones with a scathing look.

"He is imprisoned there; has been since 1945," Harry explained.

Alastor Moody appeared at the DMLE offices suddenly. He escaped from Hogwarts via one of the secret passages to report that Dumbledore had locked up the castle and refused to allow the children to send or receive any postal owls.

When he heard Harry's claim about being in Nuremgard and seeing a living Grindelwald earlier in the year, moody asked if the boy-who-lived would share the memory.

A pensieve was produced and the memory copied from Potter's mind; Moody and Bones went first, both staying for thirty minutes before exiting. Moody motioned Diggory to jump in with three Aurors and while they waited, Moody questioned Potter about the other entrances and exits to the castle.

"There're just old elves protecting him," Bones said when Moody questioned Harry about any statues or suits of armour standing in the castle.

"That's all the Potter saw," Moody reminded the Director. "The boy meant no harm to the prisoner and other defences might have been delayed until hostile intent is displayed."

When Minister Diggory and the Aurors came out of the pensieve, Amelia Bones immediately argued for more investigation and locking Potter up until they had time to determine the truth of the matter. Frowning again, Diggory silenced Bones with his wand, took her wand from her and then declared there to be an emergency. He took command of the DMLE himself because of the emergency, ordered Bones confined in one of her cells for 24 hours, and then appointed Alastor Moody as Emergency Ambassador to the ICW.

In only a few minutes, Moody and both Aurors left for Geneva, Switzerland with the pensieve. They would find Percy Weatherby who would know available ICW officials. They'd share the memory and then lead a force to Nuremgard to execute Gellert Grindelwald. Andrew and Andromeda were taken to the hidden Potter house by Snot and Dobby while Ted and Harry waited at the Ministry for word from the ICW.

00**OO**00

It took seven long hours for the ICW to muster a force that burst into the upper floors of Nuremgard, verify that the prisoner was indeed Gellert Grindelwald and execute him with fifteen simultaneous cutting charms.

The Daily Prophet published two editions that day, the headlines in the first edition were shocking to many wizards in Magical Britain:

'**Dumbledore Lied!**

**Grindelwald Still Lives!**

**ICW to Execute the Dark Lord!'**

The headlines in the late edition that same day declared:

'**ICW Executes Grindelwald!**

**Dumbledore Fired from Hogwarts!**

**Warrants Issued for Dumbledore Arrest!'**

00**OO**00

"He's at Hogwarts," Harry told minister Diggory. "He'll never leave the castle until the new headmistress kicks him out!"

"Did the Governors appoint a new headmistress?" Amos asked.

00**OO**00

"Get out! Leave Hogwarts now!" demanded Minerva McGonagall as she chased Albus Dumbledore down the hallways. "You're a disgrace to all wizards! You've lied for fifty years about being a hero but you're nothing but a coward!"

McGonagall, who lost a brother and her husband in the war with Grindelwald, threw her strongest stinging hexes at the former headmaster's hands, feet, nose, and buttocks.

"You'll never set foot in Hogwarts again!"

"Minerva, this is all a misunderstanding!"

"Don't you dare call this a misunderstanding!" she shouted before throwing her strongest hex that sent Albus flying out the front door.

She followed him out the door and shouted, "Hagrid! Throw that piece of trash out the gates!"

"Deputy?" asked Hagrid who was confused by what he saw in front of him; Albus Dumbledore lay on the ground, with swollen feet and hands, and his misshapen nose, while Minerva McGonagall stood over him with magic leaking out of her wand in a steady stream.

"I'm headmistress now! Hogwarts says I am, and I order you to throw the trash out the gate!"

00**OO**00

Albus Dumbledore lay on the ground after Hagrid threw him 'over' the gates. It wasn't the half-giant's most powerful throw; otherwise Dumbledore would have bounced a couple times and broken several bones. But it was strong enough and far enough that Dumbledore was outside of the wards and he was no longer headmaster of Hogwarts.

As the wards left him, Dumbledore's mind cleared away a memory charm; one he'd cast on himself. As the charm faded away, knowledge returned to him. Now Albus remembered the 'Happily Ever After' painting. And he remembered that he'd had an elf hide the painting somewhere in the castle.

When he decided to take Gellert's painting of Nuremgard Castle back in 1945, he'd been new at using the Elder Wand. He'd used the new want to imprison Gellert in the cell that could not be opened. He found several books that referenced 'Happily Ever After' paintings and slowly came to believe the painting offered second chance at happiness for two wizards.

Back in Britain, it took three years to find a charm to move their portraits when they were young and full of plans into the castle. And it took another six months to move the painting of Gellert in his cell into the painting. Then he sent wands into the painting.

But by 1951, Dumbledore found that he couldn't stand to look at the Nuremgard painting without pain. He had to die, and Gellert had to die before they could appear in the painting. First he hid the painting in his quarters and then when he became headmaster, he ordered the head elf to hide the painting somewhere in the castle that no one could find it. And he cast the powerful memory charm to hide all knowledge of the painting from him as long as he was headmaster.

When he died, Albus's portrait would awaken in the castle and he could wait for Gellert's portrait to awaken. Then they would have centuries together in the castle with enough adventures in the forests and villages to satisfy Gellert.

'_This is why I need Harry Potter! Why I've been obsessed with getting him back at Hogwarts! He can send things into the magical paintings as easy as I send something across the room. Maybe I could even go into the painting! I've got to get Potter back here…'_

Remembering that he no longer was headmaster of Hogwarts, he smiled; now he'd force Potter to tell him what he wanted to know.

00**OO**00

With the Elder Wand still in his pocket, Dumbledore healed his wounds and apparated to his brother's tavern. He planned to spend the night before setting out to Nuremgard to visit Gellert, but a tankard of ale was thrown at his head the instant he opened the door. A newspaper was thrown at him before the door of the tavern was shut in his face. The headlines made his breath catch in his throat before he apparated away.

'**Dumbledore Lied!**

**Grindelwald Still Lives!**

**ICW to Execute the Dark Lord!'**

00**OO**00

SCENE Capture the Fugitive

Across Britain, the Daily Prophet was read thoroughly from front to back for every detail about the shocking revelation that Albus Dumbledore lied about killing Grindelwald and letting the world believe him to be a hero in 1945. Family members of wizards and witches killed in the war took some satisfaction that justice for the Dark Lord – the original Dark Lord – had been meted out at last.

One old wizard cried when he read the headlines in the late edition:

'**ICW Executes Grindelwald!**

**Dumbledore Fired from Hogwarts!**

**Warrants Issued for Dumbledore Arrest!',**

The headlines in the morning paper broke his heart:

'**Grindelwald Dead! Pictures Inside!**

**Dumbledore Sought Throughout Europe!'**

With nothing to live for, Albus Dumbledore decided to find Harry Potter and kill the boy – this was all the fault of the 'Boy-Who-Lived'. He rested for an hour and then began to apparate to London.

The former headmaster first appeared in Little Whinging at No.4 Privet Drive but there was no one at home. He left the house in ruins while neighbours called the police. Then he returned to No.12 Grimmauld Place and began testing the wards. They had been weakened but still held after four days of his draining charms.

Before he could apparate away and look elsewhere, the front door of No.12 opened and Harry Potter stood there, smirking at the headmaster.

"What do you want, Dumbleshit?"

"Now, Harry, is that any way to talk to your headmaster?"

"Daily Prophet reports that you got fired," Harry said. "Think that means you aren't headmaster anymore."

He'd been up too long without rest, nourishment or drink, and Albus found he had to hobble as he moved closer, his left hip was sore and his right knee threatened to collapse on him.

"Can't we talk like civilized wizards?"

"I don't think so," the boy said as he backed up, leaving the front door open.

Pausing at the door, Dumbledore grasped the side of the door frame with his left hand while the right had to slip under his knee to lift his leg onto the sill.

"I'll only take a couple minutes of your time," Albus said as he stepped forward, planning to enter the house and kill the boy.

Darkness took him.

00**OO**00

SCENE Nuremgard Castle Awakening

Albus Dumbledore awoke on a cold stone floor. A boot was none-too-gently jostling his shoulder and an almost forgotten voice said, "Wake up old man."

Dumbledore opened his eyes, looked about him wildly and then recognized the wizard that stood over him.

"Gellert! It's you!"

With a mystified look, the other figure replied, "Who are you?"

"Gellert! It's me, Albus!"

"Merlin, you're old!" the young wizard sneered.

"But I'm still the same wizard inside! It's so good to see you!" Albus said lifting a hand as he expected his companion to help him rise to his feet. The other wizard backed up; the distaste to be with this wizard evident on his face. Disappointed and confused, Dumbledore managed to get to his feet and turned toward Grindelwald with a smile still on his face.

"Where are we, Albus? How did we get here?" Gellert asked. "How many years has it been? A hundred? You look like you're two hundred years old!"

"That's not important! This is a chance for us to be happy, Gellert," Albus replied.

Now suspicious, the other wizard asked, "What did you do?"

Smiling broadly, Dumbledore explained, "I saved you! I kept you alive all these years so that you could be saved. When you died – when they killed you yesterday – your portrait here in the castle awakened."

Dumbledore motioned to an empty portrait frame with a label 'Gellert Grindelwald' affixed to the bottom. Next to it stood a second portrait of a young Albus Dumbledore.

"My plan was that when I died, this portrait would awaken and we would be here together for several hundred years."

Gellert was outraged and let Albus know it as he shouted, "You think you saved me? Merlin and Morgana, why didn't you kill me and put me out of my misery fifty years ago?"

Dumbledore watched the face of his one true love turn ugly as Gellert continued, "I spent all those years in solitary confinement! Not a word with another person! And every single day, I imagined how I would kill you if I ever got the chance!"

"No! You don't mean that!" Albus shouted. "This is our chance to be happy together! I took this painting of Nuremgard from the castle when… it was for us!"

"And you expect me to spend the next two hundred years playing house with you?"

In the magical painting of Nuremgard, the portrait of Gellert that awakened was a strong, young man where Albus was an old wizard. Giving in to his anger, the young Gellert punched Albus and then tackled him.

Protesting, Albus begged Gellert to remember their plans.

"I remember every plan, every betrayal!"

Grabbing Dumbledore's long beard in his right hand, Gellert wrapped it around the old wizard's neck, flipped Dumbledore onto his stomach and sat his knees across Dumbledore' back and pulled tightly on the beard. It took several long minutes, but Gellert Grindelwald choked the life out of Albus Dumbledore with his own beard.

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Albus Dumbledore woke a second time; he was in a painting and looked outside the frame to see the body of an old wizard laying on the floor, a long white beard wrapped around his neck. To one side, another wizard, a younger man, looked through the robes of the dead wizard. He appeared to be searching for something and Albus heard him say, "Where's my wand? You took it and I want it back!"

Taking a step forward, Albus moved from his portrait frame into the hall at Nuremgard Castle. His younger body felt alive without aches and pains that had been a part of Dumbledore's life for the last forty years.

"Gellert," he called though the throat in this portrait was dry. He swallowed and tried speaking again, "Gellert!"

The other wizard turned around and scowled, "What? Are you back again? How many times do I have to kill you today?"

Gellert ran across the room and shoved Albus up against the picture frame. Dumbledore tried to embrace his lover but the other wizard punched and knocked him down.

"Stop! Gellert, stop!" Dumbledore shouted as they grappled and fell against the doorframe and then into the next room. As they fell forward, they began to spin as though travelling by floo.

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SCENE Hunting Lessons

Ejected by the travelling spell, Gellert and Albus tumbled through the air and rolled into tall, dry grass. When he made it to his feet, Albus felt the heat of a hot sun and smelt dry air. He offered a hand to Gellert and helped the other man to stand. There were a few birds in the far-away trees, but there were no signs of mankind.

A loud scream ripped the air and from the tall grass; a few ostriches rose to run away, leaving no doubt that the scream meant danger. Gellert turned in the direction the ostriches ran and began following them at a steady walk that he would turn into a steady gait once his muscles were warmed up.

"Wait!" called Albus. "Have you got a wand?"

"No," the man replied without stopping.

"We must make a plan because we can't outrun this beast, whatever it is," Dumbledore said, catching Gellert and pulling him by the arm to stop walking. "Talk to me! We can't survive without each other."

"Albus, our chances of surviving without a wand are slim to none. But I have a plan to survive for at least one more day."

"What? How?" asked a surprized Dumbledore.

Gellert grinned, "It's an old joke but very true today; I don't have to outrun this predator. I only have to outrun you!"

Shaking off Dumbledore's grip on his arm, Gellert ran through the tall grass, leaving Albus Dumbledore behind.

Stunned by the betrayal, Albus reacted a moment later as he ran, following Gellert's path. After five minutes, Dumbledore stopped in the shade of a solitary tree to catch his breath. Gellert was already out of sight and Albus was abandoned. When he heard another snarl in the grass behind him, he found the energy to climb the tree.

Albus was about twenty feet off the ground, when a large, black spotted cat stepped from the grass. He recognized it as a Nundu and the creature gazed at Dumbledore from the base of the tree for only a seconds before it bounded away, following Gellert's scent.

Albus found that his arms and legs shook with fear and fatigue; Nundus were deadly even against teams of wizards. Tears rolled down his face as he imagined the fate that awaited the portrait of his lover. They would lose their 'Happy Ever After' without sharing a single kind word.

As he tried to find the strength to climb down, Albus saw the tops of the blades of grass moving again and watched as a young Nundu– less than a year old – walked from the tall grass. It stumbled just a bit before coming to the base of the tree where it sat and stared at him with glowing green eyes.

"Go away kitty… I won't hurt you," Albus said. The kitten meowed so quietly that the wizard couldn't hear it but the creature showed no sign of leaving the tree so, Dumbledore broke off a small branch and dropped it on the kitten. The wood hit the kitten's head hard enough to surprize and scare the little creature that yowled loudly and ran to hide in the grass.

From further back in the grass came another growl, louder and angry. Albus clung to the tree tightly as the mother Nundu appeared – she didn't have the mane of spikes worn by the first cat that chased after Gellert.

She stalked into the small clearing and crouched at the base of the tree, while staring at the wizard clinging to the branches and trunk above her. Suddenly the Nundu leapt up the trunk, her claws carrying her up to reach Dumbledore's legs effortlessly. Sharp pain and tearing flesh failed the wizard as the Nundu's strength pulled Dumbledore's arms free and he fell twenty feet to the grass under the tree.

With one leg broken and lying at an odd angle, Dumbledore tried to pull himself away with his arms and pushed with his good leg but this attracted the attention of the female Nundu as she dropped to the ground. She grabbed Dumbledore's left arm in her jaws and pulled him further from the tree, biting hard enough to break the bone and leave him screaming in pain. Then she called for her cub to return from the hiding place in the grass.

The kitten with black and yellow spots tumbled around its mother who nudged it toward the living prey with her nose. Dumbledore's cries and attempts to move away attracted the kitten's curiosity and for the next hour it bit, clawed, and chewed on the man, learning how to kill under Mother's watchful eye.

Dumbledore was still alive when the male Nundu returned, adding to the family dinner with the corpse of the second wizard. Gellert's throat had been ripped out and the head left behind somewhere in the grass.

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SCENE Epilogue

After a week of being 'on guard' against Albus Dumbledore, Hogwarts and the Ministry relaxed enough to pay attention to the Death Certificate issued by Gringotts Bank for Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore. There were official announcements in the Daily Prophet, McGonagall was confirmed as Headmistress for Hogwarts, and Magical Britain sighed with relief.

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In the coming year, the Black family properties on Grimmauld Place expanded to include No.10 where Dora and her husband settled with their family, and No.14 where Andy and Ted settled to give each family privacy.

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Assured that his family was safe, Harry resumed his Gap Year, travelling the world with his elves with months in North America, Japan, China, India, Australia and then back to Africa again. Nexia painted marvellous paintings of the great cities of the world and the great jungles, plains and forests, and she began to teach Harry as well.

At one point during the gap year, Harry developed a fascination with dinosaurs, and to prevent future problems, Snot made the young wizard watch dinosaur movies until Mr Harry Potter admitted that he'd be eaten in any paintings with the predators from the movies. In the end, Nexia refused to paint any dinosaur paintings with predators in them.

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Magical Britain adjusted to the absence of Harry Potter which was good because the Boy-Who-Lived acted on his decision to immigrate. After graduating from university in the United States, Harry studied under his favourite magical painter, Nexia Potter Elf, and became a famous magical painter, specialising in paintings of magical animals and their habitats.

He illustrated several books on the lives of several magical animals that were previously thought to be too dangerous to ever observe. His series of paintings of the Nundus made the dangerous cat extremely popular around the world leading to greater conservation efforts in their native habitats.

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Lady Longbottom died suddenly just after Neville's fifteenth birthday. With the aid of his new guardian, Theodore Tonks, a cousin by blood, he broke the betrothal contract with Susan Bones and Hannah Abbot. He returned to Hogwarts and courted Hannah Abbot without Susan as part of the deal and they became engaged at Yule in their sixth year and married after graduation.

Neville and Harry never reconciled their friendship and that was a regret both men carried for the remainder of their days.

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Harry married an American and never returned to Britain because the Wizengamot refused to change the requirement for lords to be tied to the kingdom. In 2011, Heir Antares Black went before the ICW's deliberative body and pleaded his case and the case of his famous uncle that Britain had no right to 'imprison' them in the British Isles. The Ministry of Magic opposed the young heir and when the ICW overruled the British Ministry, Amelia Bones lost the position of Minister for Magic after only three years.

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Still declining all invitations to return to Britain for any visit, Harry's British family came to him every year for vacation. He painted portraits of his large and continuously growing family that included five younger generations of Blacks, Potters, and Prewitts before his passing.

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Table of Contents Contents

The Magical Portrait Charm 1

Chapter 5: Summer and Fall 1995 1

SCENE Start of Gap Year 1

SCENE Dumbledore Attempts to Find Harry 19

SCENE News Release and Revelations 30

SCENE Capture the Fugitive 37

SCENE Nuremgard Castle Awakening 39

SCENE Hunting Lessons 42

SCENE Epilogue 46

Table of Contents 48


End file.
